Jeremiah 2:14-19

English Standard Version

^14 (A)“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
    Why then has he become a prey?
^15 (B)The lions have roared against him;
    they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
    his cities are in ruins, ^(C)without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Moreover, the men of ^(D)Memphis and ^(E)Tahpanhes
    ^(F)have shaved^[a] the crown of your head.
^17 (G)Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when ^(H)he led you in the way?
^18 (I)And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of ^(J)the Nile?
^(K)Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of ^(L)the Euphrates?^[b]
19 (M)Your evil will chastise you,
    and ^(N)your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and ^(O)bitter
    for ^(P)you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.