Israel Has Forsaken God

1And he said, Thus saith the Lord,

2I remember the kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine espousals,

3in following the Holy One of Israel, saith the Lord, Israel was the holy people to the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase: al that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.

4Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel.

5Thus saith the Lord, What trespass have your fathers found in me, that they have revolted far from me, and gone after vanities, and become vain?

6And they said not, Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land which no man at all went through, and no man dwelt there?

7And I brought you to Carmel, that ye should eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof; and ye went in, and defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

8The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held by the law knew me not: the shepherds also sinned against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after that which profited not.

9Therefore I will yet plead with you, and will plead with your children's children.

10For go to the isles of the Chettians, and se; and send to Kedar, and observe accurately, and see if such things have been done;

11if the nations will change their gods, though they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory, for that from which they shall not be profited.

12The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horror-struck, saith the Lord.

13For my people has committed two faults, and evil ones: they have forsaken me, the fountain of water of life, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.

The Consequence of Israel’s Sin

14Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? why has he become a spoil?

15The lions roared upon him, and uttered their voice, which have made his land a wilderness: and his cities are broken down, that they should not be inhabited.

16Also the children of Memphis and Taphnas have known thee, and mocked thee.

17Has not thy forsaking me brought these things upon thee? saith the Lord thy God.

18And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Geon? and what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of rivers?

19Thine apostasy shall correct thee, and thy wickedness shall reprove thee: know then, and see, that thy forsaking me has been bitter to thee, saith the Lord thy God; and I have taken no pleasure in thee, saith the Lord thy God.

20For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, and plucked asunder thy bands; and thou has said, I will not serve thee, but will go upon every high hill, and under every shady tree, there will I indulge in my fornication.

21Yet I planted thee a fruitful vine, entirely of the right sort: how art thou a strange vine turned to bitterness!

22Though thou shouldest wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself soap, still thou art stained by thine iniquities before me, saith the Lord.

Israel’s Unfaithfulness

23How wilt thou say, I am not polluted, and have not gone after Baal? behold thy ways in the burial-ground, and know what thou hast done: her voice has howled in the evening:

24she has extended her ways over the waters of the desert; she was hurried along by the lusts of her soul; she is given up to them, who will turn her back? none that seek her shall be weary; at the time of her humiliation they shall find her.

25Withdraw thy foot from a rough way, and they throat from thirst: but she said I will strengthen myself: for she loved strangers, and went after them.

26As is the shame of a thief when he is caught, so shall the children of Israel be ashamed; they, and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.

27They said to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou has begotten me: and they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: yet in the time of their afflictions they will say, Arise, and save us.

28And where are thy gods, which thou madest for thyself? will they arise and save in the time of thine affliction? for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal.

29Wherefore do ye speak unto me? ye all have been ungodly, and ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord.

30In vain have I smitten your children; ye have not received correction: a sword has devoured your prophets as a destroying lion; yet ye feared not.

31Hear ye the word of the Lord: thus saith the Lord, Have I been a wilderness or a dry land to Israel? wherefore has my people said, We will not be ruled over, and will not come to thee any more?

32Will a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin her girdle? but my people has forgotten me days without number.

33What fair device wilt thou yet employ in thy ways, so as to seek love? it shall not be so; moreover thou has done wickedly in corrupting thy ways;

34and in thine hands has been found the blood of innocent souls; I have not found them in holes, but on every oak.

35Yet thou saidst, I am innocent: only let his wrath be turned away from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, whereas thou sayest, I have not sinned.

36For thou has been so exceedingly contemptuous as to repeat thy ways; but thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assur.

37For thou shalt go forth thence also with thine hands upon thine head; for the Lord has rejected thine hope, and thou shalt not prosper in it.