2"Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: I remember the loyalty of your youth, your love as a bride--how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
3Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it found themselves guilty; disaster came on them." This is the LORD's declaration.
5This is what the LORD says: What fault did your fathers find in me that they went so far from me, followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?
6They stopped asking, "Where is the LORD who brought us from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through a land of drought and darkness, a land no one traveled through and where no one lived?"
8The priests quit asking, "Where is the LORD?" The experts in the law no longer knew me, and the rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.
13For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves-- cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.
18Now what will you gain by traveling along the way to Egypt to drink the water of the Nile? What will you gain by traveling along the way to Assyria to drink the water of the Euphrates?
19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Recognize how evil and bitter it is for you to abandon the LORD your God and to have no fear of me. This is the declaration of the Lord GOD of Armies.
20For long ago I broke your yoke; I tore off your chains. You insisted, "I will not serve!" On every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a prostitute.
23How can you protest, "I am not defiled; I have not followed the Baals"? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young camel twisting and turning on her way,
24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness. She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can control her passion? All who look for her will not become weary; they will find her in her mating season.
26Like the shame of a thief when he is caught, so the house of Israel has been put to shame. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
27say to a tree, "You are my father," and to a stone, "You gave birth to me." For they have turned their back to me and not their face, yet in their time of disaster they beg, "Rise up and save us!"
28But where are your gods you made for yourself? Let them rise up and save you in your time of disaster if they can, for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.
31Evil generation, pay attention to the word of the LORD! Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do my people claim, "We will go where we want; we will no longer come to you"?
34Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor. You did not catch them breaking and entering. But in spite of all these things
37Moreover, you will be led out from here with your hands on your head since the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not succeed even with their help.
