^(A)“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
^(B)Have followed ^[a]idols,
And have become idolaters?
⁶ Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,
Who ^(C)brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through ^(D)the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and pits,
Through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no one dwelt?’
⁷ I brought you into ^(E)a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you ^(F)defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.
⁸ The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the ^(G)law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
^(H)The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ “Therefore ^(I)I will yet ^[b]bring charges against you,” says the Lord,
“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
¹⁰ For pass beyond the coasts of ^[c]Cyprus and see,
Send to ^[d]Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a ^(J)thing.
^11 (K)Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are ^(L)not gods?
^(M)But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
¹² Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
¹³ “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the ^(N)fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴ “Is Israel ^(O)a servant?
Is he a homeborn slave?
Why is he plundered?
^15 (P)The young lions roared at him, and growled;
They made his land waste;
His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Also the people of ^[e]Noph and ^(Q)Tahpanhes
Have ^[f]broken the crown of your head.
^17 (R)Have you not brought this on yourself,
In that you have forsaken the Lord your God
When ^(S)He led you in the way?
¹⁸ And now why take ^(T)the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of ^(U)Sihor?
Or why take the road to ^(V)Assyria,
To drink the waters of ^[g]the River?
¹⁹ Your own wickedness will ^(W)correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the Lord your God,
And the ^[h]fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰ “For of old I have ^(X)broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And ^(Y)you said, ‘I will not ^[i]transgress,’
When ^(Z)on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, ^(AA)playing the harlot.
²¹ Yet I had ^(AB)planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into ^(AC)the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
²² For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is ^(AD)marked^[j] before Me,” says the Lord God.

²³ “How^(AE) can you say, ‘I am not ^[k]polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley;
Know what you have done:
You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
²⁴ A wild donkey used to the wilderness,
That sniffs at the wind in her desire;
In her time of mating, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
In her month they will find her.
²⁵ Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ^(AF)‘There is no hope.
No! For I have loved ^(AG)aliens, and after them I will go.’

²⁶ “As the thief is ashamed when he is found out,
So is the house of Israel ashamed;
They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their ^(AH)prophets,
²⁷ Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a ^(AI)stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their ^(AJ)trouble
They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
²⁸ But ^(AK)where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they ^(AL)can save you in the time of your ^[l]trouble;
For ^(AM)according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.