CHAPTER 2
“Go
and proclaim
in the hearing
of Jerusalem
that this is what
the LORD
says:
I remember
the devotion
of your youth,
your love
as a bride,
how you followed
Me in the wilderness,
in a land
not
sown.
Israel
was holy
to the LORD,
the firstfruits
of His harvest.
All
who devoured her
found themselves guilty;
disaster
came
upon them,
declares
the LORD.”
This is what
the LORD
says:
“What
fault
did your fathers
find in Me
that
they strayed so far
from Me,
and followed
worthless idols,
and became worthless themselves?
They did not
ask,
‘Where
is the LORD
who brought
us from
the land
of Egypt,
who led
us through the wilderness,
through a land
of deserts
and pits,
through a land
of drought
and darkness,
a land
where no
one
travels
and
no
one
lives?'
I brought
you
into
a fertile
land
to eat
its fruit
and bounty,
but you came
and defiled
My land,
and made
My inheritance
detestable.
The priests
did not
ask,
‘Where
is the LORD?’
The experts
in the law
no
longer knew Me,
and the leaders
rebelled
against Me.
The prophets
prophesied
by Baal
and followed
useless
idols.
Therefore,
I will contend
with
you again,
declares
the LORD,
and I will bring a case
against
your children’s
children.
Cross over
to Cyprus
and take a look;
send
to Kedar
and consider
carefully;
see
if
there has ever been
anything like this:
Has a nation
ever changed
its gods?
(though they
were no
gods at all!)
Yet My people
have exchanged
their Glory
for idols
that are useless.
“For
My people
have committed
two
evils:
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain
of living
water,
and they have dug
cisterns for themselves,
broken
cisterns
that
cannot
hold
water.
The young lions
have roared
at him;
they have growled
with a loud voice.
They have laid
waste
his land;
his cities
lie in ruins,
without
inhabitants.
Now
what will you gain
on your way
to Egypt
to drink
the waters
of the Nile?
What will you gain
on your way
to Assyria
to drink
the waters
of the Euphrates?
Your own evil
will discipline you;
your own apostasies
will reprimand you.
Consider
and realize
how
evil
and bitter it is
for you to forsake
the LORD
your God
and to have
no
fear of Me,”
declares
the Lord
GOD
of Hosts.
“For
long ago
you broke
your yoke
and tore off
your chains,
saying,
“I will not
serve!”
Indeed,
on
every
high
hill
and under
every
green
tree
you
lay down
as a prostitute.
I
had planted you
like a choice
vine
from the very best
seed.
How
could you turn yourself
before me,
into a rotten
wild
vine?
Although
you wash
with lye
and use an abundance
of soap,
the stain
of your guilt
is still before Me,”
declares
the Lord
GOD.
“How
can you say,
‘I am not
defiled;
I have not
run
after
the Baals’?
Look
at your behavior
in the valley;
acknowledge
what
you have done.
You are a swift
young she-camel
galloping here and there,
a wild donkey
at home in
the wilderness,
sniffing
the wind
in the heat
of her
desire.
Who
can restrain her passion?
All
who seek her
need not
weary themselves;
in mating season
they will find her.
Keep
your feet
from being unshod
and your throat
from thirst.
But you say,
‘It is hopeless!
I love
foreign gods,
and I must go after
them.’
As the thief
is ashamed
when
he is caught,
so
the house
of Israel
is disgraced.
They,
their kings,
their officials,
their priests,
and their prophets
say
to a tree,
‘You
are my father,’
and to a stone,
‘You
gave birth to me.’
For
they have turned
their backs
to Me
and not
their faces,
yet in the time
of trouble
they beg,
‘Rise up
and save us!’
But where
are the gods
you made for yourself?
Let them rise up
and save you
if they can
in your time
of trouble;
for
your gods
are
as numerous
as your cities,
O Judah.
“I have struck
your sons
in vain;
they accepted
no
discipline.
Your own sword
has devoured
your prophets
like a voracious
lion.
You people
of this generation,
consider
the word
of the LORD:
Have I been
a wilderness
to Israel
or
a land
of dense darkness?
Why
do My people
say,
‘We are free to roam;
we will
come
to You
no more’?
Does a maiden
forget
her jewelry
or a bride
her wedding sash?
Yet My people
have forgotten Me
for days
without
number.
Moreover,
your skirts
are stained
with the blood
of the innocent
poor,
though you did not
find
them breaking in.
But
in spite of
all
these things
you say,
‘I am innocent.
Surely
His anger
will turn
from me.’
But I will certainly
judge
you,
because
you say,
‘I have not
sinned.’
How
unstable you are,
constantly
changing
your ways!
You will be disappointed
by Egypt
just as
you were
by Assyria.
Moreover,
you will leave
that place
with your hands
on
your head,
for
the LORD
has rejected
those you trust;
you will not
prosper
by their help.”