CHAPTER 2
1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Go and call out in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said the LORD:
I recalled for you the kindness of your youth,
your coming after Me in the wilderness,
in an unsown land.
3Israel is holy to the LORD,
the first fruits of His harvest.
All who eat it bear guilt,
evil shall come upon them,
said the LORD.
4Listen to the word of the LORD, House of Jacob,
and all the clans of the House of Israel.
5Thus said the LORD:
What wrong did your fathers find in Me
that they grew distant from Me
went after mere breath and turned into mere breath?
6And they did not say, “Where is the LORD,
Who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness
in a land of desert and pits,
in a land of parched earth and death’s shadow,
in a land where no man had gone,
and where no human dwelled?”
7And I brought you to a country of farmland
to eat its fruit and its bounty,
and you came and defiled My land
and My estate you made abhorrent.
8The priests did not say, “Where is the LORD?”
And those skilled in the Teaching did not know Me,
and the shepherds rebelled against Me,
and the prophets prophesied for Baal,
and after what cannot avail they went.
9Therefore will I yet dispute with you—
said the LORD—and with the sons of your sons will I dispute.
10For pass through the isles of the Kittites and see,
send out to Kedar and look carefully
and see, has there been the like of this?
11Has a nation given up its gods
though they are ungods?
But My people exchange its Glory
for what cannot avail.
12Be appalled, O heavens, for this,
be shocked, altogether, desolate—
said the LORD.
13For two evils My people has done:
Me they forsook, the source of living waters,
to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,
that cannot hold the water.
14Is Israel a slave, is he home-born chattel?
Why has he become plunder?
15Lions roar over him,
lift up their cry,
and they have made his land a desolation,
his towns are ravaged with no dweller there.
16The men, too, of Noph and Tahpanes
shall smash your pate.
17Is not this how you fare
for forsaking the LORD your God
when He led you on the way?
18And now, why go in the way of Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile,
and why go in the way of Assyria
to drink the Euphrates’ waters?
19Let your evil chastise you
and your rebellion reprove you,
and mark and see that it is evil and bitter,
your forsaking the LORD your God.
The fear of Me is not upon you
said the Master, LORD of Armies.
20For of old you broke your yoke,
you tore apart your bands,
and you said, “I will not serve.”
and under every lush tree
21And I, I planted you as a choice vine,
a wholly true seed,
and how have you turned against Me
into a wayward alien vine?
22Though you scrub with natron
and use abundant lye,
your crime is stained before Me,
said the Master, the LORD.
23How can you say, “I was not defiled,
after the Baalim I have not gone”?
know what you have done.
A swift she-camel threading her way,
24a wild ass at home in the wilderness,
sniffing wind in the lust of her appetite,
her desire cannot be turned back.
All who seek her will not tire,
in her season they will find her.
25Keep your feet from walking bare
and your throat from going dry.
“No, I love strangers,
and after them I will go.”
26Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,
thus the house of Israel acted shamefully,
they, their kings, and their nobles,
and their priests, and their prophets.
27They 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.
And when disaster befalls them, they say,
“Arise and rescue us.”
28And where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them rise and rescue when disaster befalls you.
For as the number of your towns
were your gods, O Judah.
29Why do you dispute with Me?
All of you rebelled against Me, said the LORD.
30In vain did I strike your sons,
they did not accept reproval.
Your sword has consumed your prophets
like a ravaging lion.
31O you generation, see the word of the LORD!
Was I a wilderness to Israel,
a land of deep darkness?
Why did My people say, “We have broken loose,
we will no longer come to you”?
32Does a virgin forget her jewels,
a bride her knotted sash?
Yet My people has forgotten Me,
days without number.
33How you make your way fair
to seek love!
Thus, even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34In your skirts, as well, is found
the lifeblood of the innocent poor.
Not in a hideout did I find them,
35And you said, “I am innocent.
Why, His wrath has turned back from me.”
I am about to exact judgment from you,
for your saying, “I did not offend.”
36Why do you cheapen yourself so much
By Egypt, too, you shall be shamed
as you were shamed by Assyria.
37For from this you shall come out
with your hands upon your head.
For the LORD spurns the ones you trust,
and you shall not succeed through them.