Jeremiah 2:14-25

New American Standard Bible

¹⁴ “Is Israel ^(A)a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home?
Why has he become plunder?
¹⁵ The young ^(B)lions have roared at him,
They have ^[a]roared loudly.
And they have ^(C)made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Also the ^[b]men of ^(D)Memphis and Tahpanhes
Have ^[c]shaved ^(E)your head.
¹⁷ Have you not ^(F)done this to yourself
By your abandoning the Lord your God
When He ^(G)led you in the way?
¹⁸ But now what are you doing ^(H)on the road to Egypt,
Except to drink the waters of the ^[d](I)Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
^19 (J)Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your ^(K)apostasies will punish you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and ^(L)bitter
For you to abandon the Lord your God,
And ^(M)the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord ^[e]God of armies.

²⁰ “For long ago ^[f](N)I broke your yoke
And tore off your restraints;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every ^(O)high hill
And under every leafy tree
You have lain down as a prostitute.
²¹ Yet I ^(P)planted you as a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the ^(Q)degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
²² Although you ^(R)wash yourself with lye
And ^[g]use much soap,
The ^(S)stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord ^[h]God.
²³ “^(T)How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the ^(U)Baals’?
Look at your way in the ^(V)valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel ^(W)running about senselessly on her ways,
²⁴ A ^(X)wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
Who can turn her away in her mating season?
None who seek her will grow weary;
In her month they will find her.
²⁵ Keep your feet from being bare,
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘^(Y)It is ^[i]hopeless!
No! For I have ^(Z)loved strangers,
And I will walk after them.’