1The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2"Go and call out so that Jerusalem hears. Say, This is what the LORD says: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, your love when you were a bride. You followed me through the wilderness, through a land that was not sown."
3"Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who devoured him were held guilty. Evil came upon them, says the LORD."
4Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
5This is what the LORD says: "What wrong did your fathers find in me, that they went far away from me? They followed worthless things, and became worthless themselves."
6"They did not say, 'Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt? He led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land where no one travelled and no one lived.'"
7"I brought you into a rich country, to eat its fruit and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land, and made my inheritance a disgusting thing."
8"The priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?' Those who handled the law did not know me. The shepherds rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, and followed things that give no profit."
9"So I will bring my case against you still, says the LORD, and against your children's children I will bring it."
10"Cross over to the coasts of Chittim and look. Send to Kedar and think it over carefully. See whether there has ever been such a thing."
11"Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are not gods at all? But my people have exchanged their glory for something that gives no profit."
12"Be shocked at this, you heavens. Shudder with horror. Be utterly desolate, says the LORD."
13"For my people have done two evils. They have left me, the fountain of living waters, and they have cut out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."
14"Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave born in the house? Why then has he been plundered?"
15"The young lions roared at him. They yelled, and they made his land a waste. His cities are burned, with no one living in them."
16"Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of your head."
17"Have you not brought this on yourself, by leaving the LORD your God when he led you along the way?"
18"And now, what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? What do you gain by going to Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?"
19"Your own wickedness will correct you, and your turning away will rebuke you. So know and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have left the LORD your God, and that you have no fear of me, says the Lord GOD of hosts."
20"Long ago I broke your yoke and snapped your chains. And you said, 'I will not serve.' But on every high hill and under every green tree you wandered, acting the prostitute."
21"Yet I had planted you as a noble vine, wholly of good seed. How then have you turned into a rotten plant, a strange vine to me?"
22"Even if you wash yourself with soda and use much soap, your guilt is still marked before me, says the Lord GOD."
23"How can you say, 'I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim'? Look at your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift young camel, running here and there,"
24"a wild donkey used to the wilderness, sniffing the wind when she is in heat. Who can turn her back when she is in season? None who look for her need tire themselves; in her month they will find her."
25"Keep your foot from going bare, and your throat from thirst. But you said, 'There is no hope. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'"
26"As a thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is ashamed: they, their kings, their princes, their priests and their prophets,"
27"who say to a block of wood, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. But in the time of their trouble they will 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 the time of your trouble. For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah."
29"Why do you bring your case against me? You have all rebelled against me, says the LORD."
30"It was no use striking your children; they took no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a lion that destroys."
31"O you people of this generation, look at the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, 'We are free to roam; we will come to you no more'?"
32"Can a girl forget her jewellery, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number."
33"How well you arrange your way to look for love. So you have even taught wicked women your ways."
34"Also on the skirts of your clothes is found the blood of the lives of the poor and innocent. I did not find it by searching in secret, but on all of these."
35"Yet you say, 'Because I am innocent, surely his anger will turn away from me.' Look, I will bring my case against you, because you say, 'I have not sinned.'"
36"Why do you wander about so much, changing your way? You will be put to shame by Egypt, as you were put to shame by Assyria."
37"Yes, you will come away from there with your hands on your head. For the LORD has rejected those you trust in, and you will not succeed through them."