Israel Has Forsaken God

1Morouer, the worde of the LORDE comaunded me thus:

2Go thy waye, crie in the eares of Ierusale, & saye: Thus saieth the LORDE: I remembre the for the kyndnesse of thy youth, and because of thy stedfast loue: in that thou folowdest me thorow the wildernesse, in an vntilled londe.

3Thou Israel wast halowed vnto te LORDE, and so was his first frutes. All they that deuoured Israel, offended: misfortune fell vpon them, saieth the LORDE.

4Heare therfore the worde of the LORDE, O thou house of Iacob, and all the generacion of the house of Israel.

5Thus saieth ye LORDE vnto you: What vnfaithfulnesse founde youre fathers in me, that they wente so farre awaye fro me, fallinge to lightnesse, and beinge so vayne?

6They thought not in their hertes: Where haue we left the LORDE, yt brought vs out of the lode of Egipte: yt led vs thorow the wildernesse, thorow a deserte and rough londe, thorow a drie and a deedly londe, yee a londe that no man had gone thorow, and wherein no man had dwelt.

7And when I had brought you in to a pleasaunt welbuylded londe, that ye might enioye the frutes and all the comodities of the same: ye went forth and defyled my londe, & brought myne heretage to abhominacion.

8The prestes the selues saide not once: where is ye LORDE? They yt haue the lawe in their hondes, knowe me not: The shepherdes offende agaynst me. The prophetes do seruyce vnto Baal, & folowe soch thinges as shall bringe them no profit.

9Wherfore I am constrayned (sayeth the LORDE) to make my complaynte vpon you, and vpon youre children.

10Go in to the Iles of Cethim, and loke wel: sende vnto Cedar, take diligent hede: and se, whether soch thinges be done there,

11whether the Gentiles themselues deale so falsly & vntruly with their goddes (which yet are no goddes in dede.) But my people hath geuen ouer their hie honoure, for a thinge that maye not helpe them.

12Be astonished (o ye heauens) be afrayde, & abashed at soch a thinge, saieth the LORDE.

13For my people hath done two euels. They haue forsake me the well of the water of life, and digged them pittes, yee vile and broken pittes, that holde no water.

The Consequence of Israel’s Sin

14Is Israel a bonde seruaunt, or one of the housholde? Why is he then so spoyled?

15Why do they roare and crie then vpon him, as a lyon? They haue made his londe wayst, his cities are so brent vp, that there is no man dwellinge in them.

16Yee the children of Noph and Taphanes haue defyled thy necke.

17Cometh not this vnto the, because thou hast forsaken the LORDE thy God, euer sence he led the by the waye?

18And what hast thou now to do in ye strete of Egipte? to drinke foule water? Ether, what makest thou in the waye to Assiria? To drinke water of the floude?

19Thine owne wickednesse shal reproue the, and thy turnynge awaye shal condemne the: that thou mayest knowe and vnderstonde, how euel and hurtful a thinge it is, yt thou hast forsaken the LORDE thy God, and not feared him, saieth the LORDE God of hoostes.

20I haue euer broken thy yock of olde, & bursten thy bondes: yet saiest thou, I wil nomore serue, but (like an harlot) thou runnest aboute vpon all hie hilles, & amonge all grene trees:

21where as I planted the out of noble grapes and good rotes. How art thou turned then into a bytter, vnfrutefull, and straunge grape?

22Yee and that so sore: that though thou wasshest the with Nitrus & makest thiself to sauoure with that swete smellinge herbe of Borith: yet in my sight thou art stayned with thy wickednesse, saieth the LORDE thy God.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness
(Judges 2:10–15; Isaiah 43:22–28)

23Saye not now: I am not vnclene, and I haue not folowed the goddes. Loke vpo thyne owne waies in the woddes, valleis & dennes: so shalt thou knowe, what thou hast done. Thou art like a swift Dromedary, that goeth easely his waye:

24and thy wantonnes is like a wilde Asse, that vseth the wildernesse, and that snoffeth and bloweth at his wil. Who can tame the? All they that seke the, shal not fayle, but fynde the in thyne owne vnclennes.

25Thou kepest thy fote from nakednes, and thy throte from thurste, and thinkest thus in thy self: tush, I wil take no sorowe, I wil loue the straunge goddes, & hange vpon them.

26Like as a thefe that is taken with the dede, commeth to shame, eue so is the house of Israel come to confucion: the comon people, their kinges and rulers, their prestes and prophetes.

27For they saye to a stock, thou art my father, and to a stone: thou hast begotten me, yee they haue turned their back vpon me, & not their face. But in the tyme of their trouble, when they saye: stonde vp, and helpe vs,

28I shal answere the: Where are now thy goddes, that thou hast made the? byd them stonde vp, and helpe the in the tyme of nede? For loke how many cities thou hast (o Iuda) so many goddes hast thou also.

29Wherfore the wil ye go to lawe with me, seinge ye all are synners agaynst me, saieth the LORDE?

30It is but lost laboure, that I smyte youre children, for they receaue not my correction. Youre owne swearde destroyeth youre prophetes, like a deuouringe lyon.

31Yf ye be the people of the LORDE, then herke vnto his worde: Am I the become a wildernesse vnto the people of Israel? or a londe that hath no light? Wherfore saieth my people then: we are falle of, and we wil come no more vnto the?

32Doth a mayden forget hir raymet, or a bryde hir stomacher? And doth my people forget me so loge?

33Why boostest thou thy wayes so hylie, (to optayne fauoure there thorow) when thou hast yet stained them wt blasphemies?

34Vpon thy wynges is founde the bloude of poore and innocent people, and that not in corners and holes only, but opely in all these places.

35Yet darrest thou saye: I am giltlesse: Tush, his wrath can not come vpo me. Beholde, I wil reason with ye, because thou darrest saye: I haue not offended.

36O how euel wil it be for the, to abyde it: when it shall be knowne, how oft thou hast gone bacwarde? For thou shalt be confounded, as wel of Egipte, as of the Assirians:

37Yee thou shalt go thy waye from the, & smyte yine hondes together vpon thy heade. Because the LORDE shal bringe that confidence and hope of thine to naught, and thou shalt not prospere with all.