Jeremiah 2:14-28

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.
¹⁶Moreover, 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.

²⁰“For long ago I ^(Q)broke your yoke
    and burst your bonds;
    but you said, ^(R)‘I will not serve.’
Yes, ^(S)on every high hill
    and under every green tree
    you bowed down ^(T)like a whore.
²¹^(U)Yet I planted you a choice vine,
    wholly of pure seed.
^(V)How then have you turned degenerate
    and become a wild vine?
²²Though you wash yourself with lye
    and use much soap,
    ^(W)the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
²³^(X)How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way ^(Y)in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
²⁴    ^(Z)a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
    in her month they will find her.
²⁵Keep ^(AA)your feet from going unshod
    and ^(AB)your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
    ^(AC)for I have loved foreigners,
    and after them I will go.’

²⁶“As a thief is shamed when caught,
    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
^(AD)they, their kings, their officials,
    their priests, and their prophets,
²⁷who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
    and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
    and not their face.
But ^(AE)in the time of their trouble they say,
    ‘Arise and save us!’
²⁸But ^(AF)where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, ^(AG)if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
for ^(AH)as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.