¹The LORD ’s word came to me , saying ,

²“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem , saying, ‘The LORD says ,

“I remember for you the kindness of your youth ,

your love as a bride,

how you went after me in the wilderness ,

in a land that was not sown .

³Israel was holiness to the LORD ,

the first fruits of his increase .

All who devour him will be held guilty.

Evil will come on them ,”’ says the LORD .”

⁴Hear the LORD ’s word , O house of Jacob , and all the families of the house of Israel !

⁵The LORD says ,

“What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me ,

that they have gone far from me ,

and have walked after worthless vanity ,

and have become worthless ?

⁶They didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt ,

who led us through the wilderness ,

through a land of deserts and of pits ,

through a land of drought and of the shadow of death ,

through a land that no one passed through ,

and where no man lived ?’

⁷I brought you into a plentiful land

to eat its fruit and its goodness ;

but when you entered, you defiled my land ,

and made my heritage an abomination .

⁸The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is the LORD ?’

and those who handle the law didn’t know me .

The rulers also transgressed against me ,

and the prophets prophesied by Baal

and followed things that do not profit .

⁹“Therefore I will yet contend with you ,” says the LORD ,

“and I will contend with your children ’s children .

¹⁰For pass over to the islands of Kittim , and see .

Send to Kedar , and consider diligently ,

and see if there has been such a thing .

¹¹Has a nation changed its gods,

which really are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit .

¹²“Be astonished , you heavens , at this

and be horribly afraid .

Be very desolate ,” says the LORD .

¹³“For my people have committed two evils :

they have forsaken me , the spring of living waters ,

and cut out cisterns for themselves : broken cisterns that can ’t hold water .

¹⁴Is Israel a slave ?

Is he born into slavery ?

Why has he become a captive?

¹⁵The young lions have roared at him and raised their voices .

They have made his land waste .

His cities are burnt up , without inhabitant .

¹⁶The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head .

¹⁷“Haven’t you brought this on yourself ,

in that you have forsaken the LORD your God , when he led you by the way ?

¹⁸Now what do you gain by going to Egypt , to drink the waters of the Shihor ?

Or why do you go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River ?

¹⁹“Your own wickedness will correct you ,

and your backsliding will rebuke you .

Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing ,

that you have forsaken the LORD your God ,

and that my fear is not in you ,” says the Lord , GOD of Armies .

²⁰“For long ago I broke off your yoke ,

and burst your bonds .

You said, ‘I will not serve ;’

for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself ,

playing the prostitute .

²¹Yet I had planted you a noble vine ,

a pure and faithful seed .

How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me ?

²²For though you wash yourself with lye ,

and use much soap ,

yet your iniquity is marked before me ,” says the Lord GOD .

²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled .

I have not gone after the Baals ’?

See your way in the valley .

Know what you have done .

You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways ,

²⁴a wild donkey used to the wilderness , that sniffs the wind in her craving.

When she is in heat , who can turn her away ?

All those who seek her will not weary themselves . In her month , they will find her .

²⁵“Keep your feet from being bare,

and your throat from thirst .

But you said, ‘It is in vain.

No , for I have loved strangers ,

and I will go after them .’

²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found ,

so the house of Israel is ashamed —

they , their kings , their princes , their priests , and their prophets ,

²⁷who tell wood , ‘You are my father ,’

and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me ,’

for they have turned their back to me ,

and not their face ,

but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise , and save us !’

²⁸“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?

Let them arise , if they can save you in the time of your trouble ,

for you have as many gods as you have towns , O Judah .

²⁹“Why will you contend with me ?

You all have transgressed against me ,” says the LORD .

³⁰“I have struck your children in vain .

They received no correction .

Your own sword has devoured your prophets ,

like a destroying lion.

³¹Generation , consider the LORD ’s word .

Have I been a wilderness to Israel ?

Or a land of thick darkness ?

Why do my people say , ‘We have broken loose.

We will come to you no more ’?

³²“Can a virgin forget her ornaments ,

or a bride her attire ?

Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number .

³³How well you prepare your way to seek love!

Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways .

³⁴Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts .

You didn’t find them breaking in ,

but it is because of all these things .

³⁵“Yet you said, ‘I am innocent .

Surely his anger has turned away from me .’

“Behold , I will judge you ,

because you say , ‘I have not sinned .’

³⁶Why do you go about so much to change your ways ?

You will be ashamed of Egypt also ,

as you were ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷You will also leave that place with your hands on your head ;

for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust ,

and you won’t prosper with them .