¹And the word of the Lord came to me and said, ²“Go and proclaim in Jerusalem's ears and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:

«I remember your kindness in your youth,

Your love in your bridal state

– The fact that you walked after me in the desert,

In an uncultivated land.

³Israel is holy to the Lord,

As are the firstfruits of its produce.

All who eat it will be guilty.

Evil will come upon them,

Says the Lord.» ’ ”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord,

O house of Jacob,

And all you families

Of the house of Israel.

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“What iniquity did your fathers find in me?

For they have distanced themselves from me

And have followed vanity

And have acted vainly.

⁶And they did not say,

‘Where is the Lord

Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt?

– Who led us in the desert,

In an arid and sunken land,

In a land of drought

And a shadow of death,

Through a land through which no man crosses

And where no man dwells.’

⁷And I brought you into a cultivable land,

To eat its fruit and its good produce,

But you came and defiled my land,

And you made my inheritance an abomination.

⁸The priests did not say,

‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who administered the law did not know me,

And the pastors have transgressed against me,

And the prophets have prophesied through Baal,

And they have walked after things

Which do not benefit anyone.

⁹That is why I will still contend with you,

Says the Lord,

And I will contend with your sons' sons.

¹⁰For pass through the coastlands of Chittim and see,

And send men to Kedar to observe well,

And see whether it is like this.

¹¹Does a nation change its gods?

But they are not gods.

Yet my people have exchanged my honour

For what will not benefit anyone.

¹²O heavens, be astonished at this,

And shudder and be very astounded,

Says the Lord.

¹³For my people have committed two evil acts;

They have forsaken me

– The source of living water –

For hewing cisterns out for themselves,

Broken cisterns

Which will not hold the water.

¹⁴Is Israel a servant?

Or is he a homeborn slave?

Why has he become a target of spoil?

¹⁵Young lions roar at him;

They made their sound,

And they laid his land waste.

His cities were burned down,

Leaving no inhabitant.

¹⁶Also the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes

Have shaved your scalp.

¹⁷Are you not doing this to yourself

By your forsaking the Lord your God,

At the time when he is leading you on the way?

¹⁸So now, what do you have to do with Egypt's way,

With drinking the waters of Shihor?

And what do you have to do with Assyria's way,

With drinking the waters of the river?

¹⁹Your wickedness will discipline you,

And your acts of apostasy will reprove you,

So know and see that your forsaking the Lord your God

Is evil and bitter,

And there is no fear of me in you,

Says the Lord, the Lord of hosts.

²⁰For I broke your yoke long ago,

And I detached your fetters,

But you said, ‘I will not serve you’,

For you wander around committing prostitution

On every high hill

And under every luxuriant tree.

²¹Yet I planted you as a choice vine,

All of it being a true seed,

But how you have turned against me,

You who turn aside to become a foreign vine.

²²Even if you wash with soda ash,

And you apply much soap to yourself,

Your iniquity is a stain before me,

Says the Lord, the Lord.

²³How can you say,

‘I am not defiled;

I have not gone after the Baalim’?

Look at your way in the valley,

And know what you have done.

You are a swift young she-camel,

Devious in her ways.

²⁴A wild donkey is accustomed to the desert;

In her feeling of desire

She draws in breath.

As for her passion,

Who can turn it back?

None who seek her become weary;

In her mating season they find her.

²⁵Keep your feet from being barefoot

And your throat from thirst.

But you said, ‘It is desperate.

No, for I love foreigners,

And I will go after them.’

²⁶Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,

So will the house of Israel be ashamed

– They, their kings, their officials,

And their priests and their prophets,

²⁷Who say to the wood,

‘You are my father’,

And to the stone,

‘You gave birth to me.’

For they have turned their back to me,

And not their face,

But in their time of trouble, they say,

‘Arise and save us.’

²⁸Now where are your gods

Which you have made for yourself?

Let them arise

If they can save you in your time of trouble,

For your gods are as the number of your cities,

O Judah.

²⁹Why do you contend with me?

You have all transgressed against me,

Says the Lord.

³⁰I have struck your sons in vain;

They do not take discipline.

Your sword has devoured your prophets,

Like a rampaging lion.

³¹O generation,

See the word of the Lord.

Have I been a desert to Israel?

Or a land of great darkness?

Why do my people say,

‘We rove around;

We will not come to you any more’?

³²Can a virgin forget her ornaments?

Or a bride her girdles?

But my people have forgotten me

For innumerable days.

³³How well you go your way in seeking love!

That is why you have also taught bad women your ways.

³⁴Also on your skirts is found

The blood of the lives of the innocent poor.

I did not find it by dint of an investigation,

For it is abundantly evident on all these skirts.

³⁵But you say,

‘As I am innocent,

Surely his anger will recede from me.’

But I am about to contend with you about your saying,

‘I have not sinned.’

³⁶How you exhaust yourself changing your way!

You will also be put to shame by Egypt,

As you were put to shame by Assyria.

³⁷You will also come out of this

With your hands on your head.

For the Lord has rejected your trusted allies,

And you will not succeed with them.