¹² My people ask their tree, and their stick tells them; for the spirit of harlotries has caused them to stray, and they have committed·​·harlotry beneath their God.

¹ And the word of Jehovah was to^▵ me, saying,

² Walk and call in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah; I remember thee, the mercy of thy youth, the love of thy being·​·a·​·bride, thy going after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

³ Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, and the firstfruits^◦ of his increase; all that devour him shall be·​·guilty; evil shall come unto^▵ them, says^◦ Jehovah.

⁴ Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

⁵ thus says Jehovah, What perversity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone far from Me, and have walked^◦ after vanity^◦, and are become·​·vain^◦?

⁶ And they said not, Where is Jehovah who brought· us ·up from the land of Egypt, who made us walk^◦ in the wilderness, in a land of desert and ditches, in an arid land, and of the shadow·​·of·​·death, in a land through which not a man^◦ crossed, and man dwelt not there?

⁷ And I brought you into^▵ a land of fresh·​·grain, to eat her fruit and her goodness; but you came, and defiled My land, and set My inheritance for an abomination.

⁸ The priests said not, Where^◦ is Jehovah? And they who lay·​·hold of the law knew Me not; and the shepherds transgressed against^◦ Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that profit not.

⁹ Therefore I will yet plead with^◦ you, says^◦ Jehovah, and with^◦ your sons’ sons will I plead.

¹⁰ For^◦ cross·​·over to the islands of Kittim, and see; and send into Kedar, and utterly understand; and behold, see if there be such as this.

¹¹ Has a nation exchanged their gods, and they^◦ are not even gods? But My people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

¹² Be astonished, O ye heavens, over this, and shudder; be· ye ·a·​·waste exceedingly, says^◦ Jehovah.

¹³ For My people have done two evils; they have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters, and hewed·​·out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can contain no^◦ water.

¹⁴ Is Israel a servant, is he^◦ born of the house? Wherefore has he been for plundering?

¹⁵ The young·​·lions roared over him, and gave a voice, and they set^◦ his land for a desolation; his cities are kindled without anyone dwelling there.

¹⁶ Even the sons of Noph and Taḥpanḥes have broken^* the top·​·of· thy ·head.

¹⁷ Hast thou not done this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, in the time that He led^◦ thee by the way?

¹⁸ And now what is it to thee to go as·​·to the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Shichor? And what is it to thee to go as·​·to the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

¹⁹ Thine own evil shall chastise thee, and thy backturning shall reprove thee; and know and see that it is evil and bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that My dread is not in^▵ thee, says^◦ the Lord Jehovih^* of Armies.

²⁰ For from eternity I have broken thy yoke, and pulled·​·off thy bonds; and thou didst say, I will not serve; for on every tall hill, and under every green tree thou^◦ travelest·​·forth, committing·​·harlotry.

²¹ And I^▵ had planted thee a noble·​·vine, all of it a seed of truth; and how^◦ art thou to Me turned into an ignoble branch^* of a foreign vine?

²² For though thou wash thee with niter^*, and take thee multiplied soap, yet thine iniquity is stained before Me, says^◦ the Lord Jehovih.

²³ How^◦ dost thou say, I am not defiled, I have not walked after Baalim? See thy way in the ravine, know what thou hast done. Thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways,

²⁴ a wild·​·ass accustomed^* to the wilderness, that gulps the wind at the longing of her soul. In her occasion who can turn· her ·back? All they that seek her will not faint; in her month they shall find her.

²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being barefoot, and thy throat from thirst; but thou didst say, I despair not, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

²⁶ As the shame of a thief when^◦ he is·​·found, so is the house of Israel shamed; they^◦, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets,

²⁷ saying to a tree, Thou^◦ art my father; and to a stone, Thou^◦ hast begotten me; for they have faced their back^◦ unto^▵ Me, and not their face; but in the time of their evil they will say, Arise, and save us.

²⁸ But where^◦ are thy gods that thou hast made for thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thine evil; for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹ Why will you plead unto^▵ Me? All of you have transgressed against^◦ Me, says^◦ Jehovah.

³⁰ In vain have I smitten your sons; they have not received^◦ discipline; your own sword has devoured your prophets, as a destroying lion.

³¹ O generation, see ye^◦ the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, a land of thick·​·darkness? Wherefore does My people say, We dominate, we will come no^◦ more^◦ to^▵ Thee?

³² Can a virgin forget her decorations, a bride her ribbons? But My people have forgotten Me days without^▵ number.

³³ How makest· thou thy way ·good to seek love? Therefore hast thou also taught the evil ones thy ways.

³⁴ Also in the wings of thy garment is·​·found the blood of the souls of the needy innocent; I have· not ·found it by digging·​·through, but^◦ upon all of these.

³⁵ And thou sayest, Because^◦ I am rendered·​·innocent, surely His anger shall turn·​·back from me. Behold, I will judge thee, on·​·account·​·of thy saying, I have not sinned.

³⁶ Why expendest thyself exceedingly to change^◦ thy way? Thou also shalt be·​·ashamed of Egypt, as^◦ thou wast ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷ Thou shalt even go·​·out from this, and thy hands on thy head; for Jehovah has rejected thy trusts, and thou shalt not prosper as·​·to them.