Single lesson
Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot
Jeremiah 3:1–5; Jeremiah 3:6–10; Jeremiah 3:11–25
Jeremiah 3:1–5 uses strong word pictures to expose the people’s unfaithfulness to Yahweh. This is prophecy and teaching, not a story scene. The passage combines sharp accusation with the unexpected call, “return again to me”. This lesson also brings together Judah Follows Israel’s Example, A Call to Repentance.
Before you teach
In these verses, Yahweh compares the people’s behaviour to marital unfaithfulness and prostitution. The passage speaks about polluted land, withheld rain, refusal to be ashamed, and respectful-sounding words that do not match evil deeds. The movement is from exposure of guilt to a call to return.
Explain the central teaching of Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot, using two details from the reading. This passage teaches that Yahweh sees persistent unfaithfulness and empty words clearly, yet still calls for a real return to him. This passage teaches that true return to Yahweh must be wholehearted, not merely outward or pretended. This passage teaches that Yahweh calls his people to return by admitting their sin and confessing that help and salvation are in him alone.
Welcome: Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot
5 minIntroduce “The Wages of the Harlot”, “Judah Follows Israel’s Example”, “A Call to Repentance” and locate Jeremiah 3:1–5; Jeremiah 3:6–10; Jeremiah 3:11–25. This passage teaches that Yahweh sees persistent unfaithfulness and empty words clearly, yet still calls for a real return to him. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:3, Jeremiah 3:5
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe Wages of the Harlot (Jeremiah 3:1–5): The passage begins with a saying about a man, his wife, and her joining herself to another man. That comparison sets up how serious the people’s behaviour is. The land is described as greatly polluted, yet Yahweh still says, “return again to me”. The invitation stands beside the accusation.
Judah Follows Israel’s Example (Jeremiah 3:6–10): Yahweh asks Jeremiah whether he has seen what “backsliding Israel” has done. The picture is of widespread unfaithfulness: going up on every high mountain and under every green tree, then “playing the prostitute” there. In this prophecy, that marriage language is used as a figure for turning away from Yahweh.
A Call to Repentance (Jeremiah 3:11–25): Yahweh says backsliding Israel appears more righteous than treacherous Judah, yet he still sends a message calling Israel to return. The call is grounded in Yahweh’s character. He says he is merciful and will not keep anger forever. Mercy is not denial of sin, but the reason return is still invited.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The Wages of the Harlot”, “Judah Follows Israel’s Example”, “A Call to Repentance”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:6, Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 3:12
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “Why is the command “return again to me” surprising in this passage?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that Yahweh calls his people to return by admitting their sin and confessing that help and salvation are in him alone. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:7, Jeremiah 3:8, Jeremiah 3:23, Jeremiah 3:25
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The Wages of the Harlot”, “Judah Follows Israel’s Example”, “A Call to Repentance” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Jeremiah 3:1, Jeremiah 3:13, Jeremiah 3:25
Closing: return to A Call to Repentance
3 minRevisit Jeremiah 3:11–25. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about A Call to Repentance and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Jeremiah 3:11, Jeremiah 3:18, Jeremiah 3:25
Questions to explore
Why is the command “return again to me” surprising in this passage?
Jeremiah 3:1 first piles up the seriousness of unfaithfulness, then places Yahweh’s invitation right in that setting.
Jeremiah 3:1
Why is Judah especially accountable in these verses?
Look for what Judah had already seen before she acted, and what Yahweh says she felt instead of fear.
Jeremiah 3:7, Jeremiah 3:8
What do the closing verses say is vain, and where do they say salvation is found?
Compare the statement about the hills and mountains with the confession about Yahweh.
Jeremiah 3:23, Jeremiah 3:25
Make, think or respond
Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Jeremiah 3:1–5; Jeremiah 3:6–10; Jeremiah 3:11–25. Use “The Wages of the Harlot”, “Judah Follows Israel’s Example”, “A Call to Repentance” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Jeremiah 3: The Wages of the Harlot connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The Wages of the Harlot”, “Judah Follows Israel’s Example”, “A Call to Repentance” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Jeremiah 3:1–5; Jeremiah 3:6–10; Jeremiah 3:11–25. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Jeremiah 3:1–5; Jeremiah 3:6–10; Jeremiah 3:11–25. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Jeremiah 3
1 “They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me,” says Yahweh.
2 “Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? You have sat waiting for them by the road, as an Arabian in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld and there has been no latter rain; yet you have had a prostitute’s forehead and you refused to be ashamed.
4 Will you not from this time cry to me, ‘My Father, you are the guide of my youth!’?
5 “ ‘Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.”
6 Moreover, Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and has played the prostitute there.
7 I said after she had done all these things, ‘She will return to me;’ but she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.
8 I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce, yet treacherous Judah, her sister, had no fear, but she also went and played the prostitute.
9 Because she took her prostitution lightly, the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with wood.
10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
11 Yahweh said to me, “Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you, for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ ” says Yahweh.
14 “Return, backsliding children,” says Yahweh, “for I am a husband to you. I will take one of you from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
16 It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of Yahweh’s covenant!’ It will not come to mind. They won’t remember it. They won’t miss it, nor will another be made.
17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘Yahweh’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Yahweh’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.
18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.
19 “But I said, ‘How I desire to put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the armies of the nations!’ and I said, ‘You shall call me “My Father”, and shall not turn away from following me.’
20 “Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so you have dealt treacherously with me, house of Israel,” says Yahweh.
21 A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Israel; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backsliding. “Behold, we have come to you; for you are Yahweh our God.
23 Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.
24 But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.