⁴ “Don’t point your finger at someone else
    and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
    is with you.^[a]
5 So you will stumble in broad daylight,
    and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
    And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
⁶ My people are being destroyed
    because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
    I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
    I will forget to bless your children.
⁷ The more priests there are,
    the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
    for the shame of idols.^[b]

⁸ “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
    So the priests are glad when the people sin!
⁹ ‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
    So now I will punish both priests and people
    for their wicked deeds.
¹⁰ They will eat and still be hungry.
    They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,
for they have deserted the Lord
¹¹     to worship other gods.

“Wine has robbed my people
    of their understanding.
¹² They ask a piece of wood for advice!
    They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols
    has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute,
    serving other gods and deserting their God.
¹³ They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
    They go up into the hills to burn incense
    in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.

“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution,
    and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
¹⁴ But why should I punish them
    for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing,
    sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand,
    so you will be destroyed.

¹⁵ “Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
    may Judah not be guilty of such things.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,^[c]
    and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name.
¹⁶ Israel is stubborn,
    like a stubborn heifer.
So should the Lord feed her
    like a lamb in a lush pasture?
¹⁷ Leave Israel^[d] alone,
    because she is married to idolatry.
¹⁸ When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
    off they go to find some prostitutes.
    They love shame more than honor.^[e]
19 So a mighty wind will sweep them away.
    Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.

¹⁰ If you fail under pressure,
    your strength is too small.

¹¹ Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
    save them as they stagger to their death.
¹² Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”
    For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
    He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

¹ I cry out to the Lord;
    I plead for the Lord’s mercy.
² I pour out my complaints before him
    and tell him all my troubles.
³ When I am overwhelmed,
    you alone know the way I should turn.
Wherever I go,
    my enemies have set traps for me.
⁴ I look for someone to come and help me,
    but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me;
    no one cares a bit what happens to me.
⁵ Then I pray to you, O Lord.
    I say, “You are my place of refuge.
    You are all I really want in life.
⁶ Hear my cry,
    for I am very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
    for they are too strong for me.
⁷ Bring me out of prison
    so I can thank you.
The godly will crowd around me,
    for you are good to me.”