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Judah's Apostasy

¹ Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,² "Go and ^(C1)proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD,

"I remember earnestly the lovingkindness and ^(C2)devotion of ^(F1)your youth,
Your time of betrothal like that of a bride during the early years in Egypt and again at Sinai,
When ^(C3)you followed Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.

³ "^(F1)Israel was ^(C1)holy something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated to the LORD,
The ^(C2)first fruits of His harvest in which no outsider was allowed to share.
^(C3)All who ate of it injuring Israel became guilty;
Evil came on them," says the LORD.'"

⁴ Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.⁵ Thus says the LORD,

"^(C1)What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me,
That they have wandered far from Me
And habitually walked after ^(C2)emptiness and futility and became empty?

⁶ "They did not say, 'Where is the LORD
Who ^(C1)brought us up from the land of Egypt,
Who ^(C2)led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of the deep darkness of the shadow of death,
Through a land that no man passed through
And where no man lived?'

⁷ "I brought you into a ^(C1)plentiful land
To eat its fruit and enjoy its good things.
But you came and ^(C2)defiled My land
And you made My inheritance repulsive.

⁸ "Even the ^(C1)priests did not say, 'Where is the LORD?'
And those who deal with the law given to Moses ^(C2)did not know Me.
The rulers and shepherds also transgressed against Me,
And the ^(C3)prophets prophesied by the authority and in the name of Baal
And walked after idolatrous ^(C4)things that did not benefit them.

⁹ "Therefore I will still ^(C1)contend (struggle) with you by bringing judgment on you," says the LORD,
"And I will contend with your children's children."

¹⁰ "For ^(C1)cross over to the coasts of Kittim (Cyprus) to the west and see,
Send also to ^(C2)Kedar (Arabia) to the east and carefully observe and consider
And see whether there has been such a thing as this!

¹¹ "Has a nation ever changed gods
Even though ^(C1)they were not gods but merely man-made objects?
But My people have ^(C2)exchanged their Glory (the true God)
For that man-made idol which does not benefit them.

¹² "Be appalled, ^(C1)O heavens, at this;
Be shocked and shudder with horror at the behavior of the people," says the LORD.

¹³ "For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned (rejected) Me,
The ^(C1)fountain of living water,
And they have carved out their own ^(C2)cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That cannot hold water.

¹⁴ "Is Israel ^(C1)a servant? Is he a slave by birth?
Why has he become a captive and a prey?

¹⁵ "The young ^(C1)lions have roared at him,
They have made their voices heard and roared loudly.
And they have ^(C2)made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed and are burned ruins, without inhabitant.

¹⁶ "Moreover, the men of ^(F1)(C1)Memphis and ^(F2)Tahpanhes as powerful enemies
Have shaved the ^(C2)crown of your head to degrade you.

¹⁷ "Have you not ^(C1)brought this on yourself
By abandoning (rejecting) the LORD your God
^(C1)When He led you in the way?

¹⁸ "Now what are you doing by going to ^(C1)Egypt in search of an ally,
To drink the muddy waters of the ^(C2)Nile?
Or what are you doing by going to Assyria in search of an ally,
To drink the muddy waters of the Euphrates?

¹⁹ "^(C1)Your own wickedness will discipline you,
And ^(C2)your desertion of the faith will punish you.
Know therefore that it is an evil and ^(C3)bitter thing
For you to abandon (reject) the LORD your God,
And for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss ^(C4)the reverent fear of Me," says the Lord GOD of hosts.

²⁰ "For long ago ^(C1)you broke your yoke in deliberate disobedience
And tore off your bonds of the law that I gave you;
You said, 'I will not serve and obey You!'
For on every ^(C2)high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down in idolatrous worship like a compliant prostitute.

²¹ "Yet I had ^(C1)planted you O house of Israel as a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned against Me
Into ^(C2)degenerate shoots of a foreign and wild vine alien to Me?

²² "For though you ^(C1)wash yourself with lye
And use much soap,
The ^(C2)stain of your guilt is still before Me and you are soiled and dirty," says the Lord GOD.

²³ "^(C1)How can you say, 'I am not defiled,
I have not gone after man-made gods like the ^(C2)Baals'?
Look at your way in the ^(C3)valley;
Know without any doubt what you have done!
You are a swift and restless young female camel in the heat of her passion ^(C4)running here and there,

²⁴ Or you have the untamed and reckless nature of a ^(C1)wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion for the scent of a mate.
In her mating season who can restrain her?
No males seeking her need to weary themselves;
In her month they will find her looking for them.

²⁵ "Cease your mad running after idols to
Keep your feet from becoming bare
And your throat from becoming dry;
But you said, '^(C1)It is hopeless!
For I have ^(C2)loved strangers and foreign gods,
And I will walk after them.'

²⁶ "As the ^(C1)thief is shamed when he is caught,
So the house of Israel is shamed—
They, their kings, their leaders,
Their priests, and their prophets—

²⁷ Who say to a tree, 'You are my father,'
And to a stone, 'You gave me birth.'
For they have turned their ^(C1)backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the ^(C2)time of their trouble they will say,
'Arise O LORD and save us.'

²⁸ "But where are your ^(C1)gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them get up, if they can ^(C2)save you
In the time of your trouble!
For as many as ^(C3)the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah. Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?

²⁹ "Why do you complain and contend with Me?
You have ^(C1)all rebelled (transgressed) against Me," says the LORD.

³⁰ "^(C1)In vain I have punished your people with the consequences of their disobedience;
They received no insight from correction and refused to change.
Your own ^(C2)sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.

³¹ "O generation that you are, consider and regard carefully the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel like a land without food,
A ^(C1)land of thick and deep darkness like a path without light?
Why do My people say, '^(C2)We have broken loose and we are free to roam at will;
We will no longer come to You'?

³² "Can a virgin forget to wear her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire that identifies her as a married woman?
Yet My people have ^(C1)forgotten Me
Days without number.

³³ "How well you prepare your path
To seek and obtain adulterous love!
Even the most wicked of women
Have learned indecent ways from you.

³⁴ "Also on your skirts is found
The ^(C1)lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them ^(C2)breaking in a house.
But in spite of all these things your disobedience, your love of idolatry, your lack of compassion—

³⁵ Yet you keep saying, 'I am innocent;
Surely His anger has turned away from me.'
Behold (listen very carefully), I will ^(C1)bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you
Because you ^(C2)say, 'I have not sinned.'

³⁶ "Why do you ^(C1)go around and wander so much
Changing your way?
Also, ^(C2)you will be shamed by Egypt
As you were shamed by ^(C3)Assyria.

³⁷ "From Egypt also you will come away as captives
With ^(C1)your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected ^(C2)those in whom you trust (confide),
And you will not be successful with them."