Jeremiah 2:14-25

Complete Jewish Bible

¹⁴ “Is Isra’el a slave, born into serfdom?
If not, why has he become plunder?
¹⁵ The young lions are roaring at him —
how loudly they are roaring!
They desolate his country,
demolishing and depopulating his cities.
¹⁶ The people of Nof and Tachpanches
feed on the crown of your head.

¹⁷ “Haven’t you brought this on yourself
by abandoning Adonai your God
when he led you along the way?
¹⁸ If you go to Egypt, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the Nile?
If you go to Ashur, what’s in it for you?
Drinking water from the [Euphrates] River?
¹⁹ Your own wickedness will correct you,
your own backslidings will convict you;
you will know and see how bad and bitter
it was to abandon Adonai your God,
and how fear of me is not in you,”
says Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot.

²⁰ “For long ago I broke your yoke;
when I snapped your chains, you said, ‘I won’t sin.’
Yet on every high hill, under every green tree,
you sprawled and prostituted yourself.
²¹ But I planted you as a choice vine
of seed fully tested and true.
How did you degenerate
into a wild vine for me?
²² Even if you scrub yourself
with soda and plenty of soap,
the stain of your guilt is still there before me,”
says Adonai Elohim.

²³ “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not pursued the ba‘alim’?
Look at your conduct in the valley,
understand what you have done.
You are a restive young female camel,
running here and there,
²⁴ wild, accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her lust —
who can control her when she’s in heat?
Males seeking her need not weary themselves,
for at mating season they will find her.

²⁵ “Stop before your shoes wear out,
and your throat is dry from thirst!
But you say, ‘No, it’s hopeless!
I love these strangers, and I’m going after them.’