1The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2“Go and proclaim to Jerusalem, ‘Yahweh says: I remember your loyalty when you were young, and your love as a bride. You followed me in the wilderness, in a land that was not planted.
3Israel was holy to Yahweh, the first of his harvest. All who tried to harm him were guilty, and disaster came upon them,’” says Yahweh.
4Hear the word of Yahweh, family of Jacob, and all the families of Israel!
5Yahweh says, “What fault did your ancestors find in me that caused them to abandon me, follow worthless idols, and become worthless themselves?
6They never asked, ‘Where is Yahweh, who brought us out of Egypt? Who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a dry land covered in darkness, a land no one traveled through or lived in?’
7I brought you into a fertile land to enjoy its fruit and good things, but when you entered, you defiled my land and made my inheritance disgusting.
8The priests did not ask, ‘Where is Yahweh?’ Those who taught the law did not know me. The leaders rebelled against me, the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, and they followed useless things.
9“Therefore, I will continue my case against you,” says Yahweh, “and I will bring a case against your grandchildren.
10Go across to the coasts of Kittim and see; send to Kedar and carefully observe: has anything like this ever happened?
11Has any nation exchanged its gods, even though they are not real gods? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for something utterly useless.
12“Be shocked by this, heavens, be terrified and utterly desolate!” says Yahweh.
13“For my people have committed two evils: they have abandoned me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
14Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why has he become prey?
15Young lions have roared and growled at him. They have made his land a wasteland; his cities are burned and uninhabited.
16The people of Memphis and Tahpanhes have also crushed your skull.
17“Did you not bring this on yourself by abandoning Yahweh your God when he was leading you on the way?
18Now, what good does it do you to go to Egypt to drink water from the Nile? Or what good does it do you to go to Assyria to drink water from the Euphrates River?
19“Your own wickedness will punish you; your turning away will correct you. Understand and see how evil and bitter it is to abandon Yahweh your God, and to have no fear of me,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
20“Long ago, I broke your yoke and tore off your chains. But you said, ‘I will not serve!’ Instead, on every high hill and under every green tree, you lay down like a prostitute.”
21I planted you like a special grape vine, a pure and faithful seed. How then did you turn into a wild vine, worthless to me?
22Even if you wash yourself with harsh soap and use a lot of it, your guilt is still clear to me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
23“How can you say, ‘I am not unclean; I have not chased after the Baals’? Look at what you did in the valley. Understand what you have done. You are like a swift camel going all over the place,
24or a wild donkey used to the desert, sniffing the wind in her desire. When she is in heat, no one can stop her. All those who look for her won’t get tired. In her mating season, they will find her.
25“Stop your feet from becoming bare and your throat from becoming thirsty. But you said, ‘It’s no use! No, I love strangers and I will go after them.’
26Just as a thief is ashamed when caught, so the people of Israel will be ashamed: they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets.
27They say to a wooden idol, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’ They have turned their backs to me, not their faces. Yet when they are in trouble, they will say, ‘Get up and save us!’
28“But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them get up and save you if they can when you are in trouble. For you, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns.
29“Why do you argue with me? All of you have disobeyed me,” says Yahweh.
30“I punished your children for nothing; they learned no lesson. Your own sword has killed your prophets, like a destructive lion.
31Listen, people of this generation, to Yahweh’s message. Have I been like a desert to Israel? Or a land of deep darkness? Why do my people say, ‘We are free to go; we will not come to you anymore’?
32“Can a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet my people have forgotten me countless times.
33How well you prepare your ways to find love! Because of this, you have even taught wicked women your ways.
34Also, the blood of innocent, poor people is found on your clothes. You didn’t catch them breaking in, yet you are guilty of all these things.
35“Still you said, ‘I am innocent; surely his anger has turned away from me.’ “Look, I will judge you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36Why do you always change your plans? You will be shamed by Egypt, just as you were shamed by Assyria.
37You will also leave there with your hands on your head, because Yahweh has rejected those you trust, and you will not succeed with them.”