“I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.
³ Israel was holy to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
declares the Lord.”

“What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
⁶ They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
⁷ And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
⁸ The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
    Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds^[a] transgressed against me;
    the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after things that do not profit.

⁹ “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
    and with your children’s children I will contend.
¹⁰ For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
    or send to Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
¹¹ Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
¹² Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
¹³ for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴ “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
    Why then has he become a prey?
¹⁵ The lions have roared against him;
    they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
    his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
    have shaved^[b] the crown of your head.
¹⁷ Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when he led you in the way?
¹⁸ And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?^[c]
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?^[d]
19 Your evil will chastise you,
    and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
    for you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰ “For long ago I broke your yoke
    and burst your bonds;
    but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, on every high hill
    and under every green tree
    you bowed down like a whore.
²¹ Yet I planted you a choice vine,
    wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
    and become a wild vine?
²² Though you wash yourself with lye
    and use much soap,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
²³ How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
²⁴     a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
    in her month they will find her.
²⁵ Keep your feet from going unshod
    and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
    for I have loved foreigners,
    and after them I will go.’

²⁶ “As a thief is shamed when caught,
    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
    their priests, and their prophets,
²⁷ who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
    and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
    and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
    ‘Arise and save us!’
²⁸ But where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹ “Why do you contend with me?
    You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
³⁰ In vain have I struck your children;
    they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
    like a ravening lion.
³¹ And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
    or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
    we will come no more to you’?
³² Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
    or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
    days without number.

³³ “How well you direct your course
    to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
    you have taught your ways.
³⁴ Also on your skirts is found
    the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
    Yet in spite of all these things
³⁵ you say, ‘I am innocent;
    surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
    for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
³⁶ How much you go about,
    changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
    as you were put to shame by Assyria.
³⁷ From it too you will come away
    with your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
    and you will not prosper by them.