“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,^(B)
    how as a bride you loved me
and followed me through the wilderness,^(C)
    through a land not sown.
³ Israel was holy^(D) to the Lord,^(E)
    the firstfruits^(F) of his harvest;
all who devoured^(G) her were held guilty,^(H)
    and disaster overtook them,’”
declares the Lord.

⁴ Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
    all you clans of Israel.

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
    that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols^(I)
    and became worthless^(J) themselves.
⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
    who brought us up out of Egypt^(K)
and led us through the barren wilderness,
    through a land of deserts^(L) and ravines,^(M)
a land of drought and utter darkness,
    a land where no one travels^(N) and no one lives?’
⁷ I brought you into a fertile land
    to eat its fruit and rich produce.^(O)
But you came and defiled my land
    and made my inheritance detestable.^(P)
8 The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who deal with the law did not know me;^(Q)
    the leaders^(R) rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal,^(S)
    following worthless idols.^(T)

⁹ “Therefore I bring charges^(U) against you again,”
declares the Lord.
    “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
¹⁰ Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus^(V) and look,
    send to Kedar^[a](W) and observe closely;
    see if there has ever been anything like this:
¹¹ Has a nation ever changed its gods?
    (Yet they are not gods^(X) at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious^(Y) God
    for worthless idols.
¹² Be appalled at this, you heavens,
    and shudder with great horror,”
declares the Lord.
¹³ “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken^(Z) me,
    the spring of living water,^(AA)
and have dug their own cisterns,
    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
¹⁴ Is Israel a servant, a slave^(AB) by birth?
    Why then has he become plunder?
¹⁵ Lions^(AC) have roared;
    they have growled at him.
They have laid waste^(AD) his land;
    his towns are burned^(AE) and deserted.^(AF)
16 Also, the men of Memphis^(AG) and Tahpanhes^(AH)
    have cracked your skull.
¹⁷ Have you not brought this on yourselves^(AI)
    by forsaking^(AJ) the Lord your God
    when he led you in the way?
¹⁸ Now why go to Egypt^(AK)
    to drink water from the Nile^[b]?^(AL)
And why go to Assyria^(AM)
    to drink water from the Euphrates?^(AN)
19 Your wickedness will punish you;
    your backsliding^(AO) will rebuke^(AP) you.
Consider then and realize
    how evil and bitter^(AQ) it is for you
when you forsake^(AR) the Lord your God
    and have no awe^(AS) of me,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

²⁰ “Long ago you broke off your yoke^(AT)
    and tore off your bonds;^(AU)
    you said, ‘I will not serve you!’^(AV)
Indeed, on every high hill^(AW)
    and under every spreading tree^(AX)
    you lay down as a prostitute.^(AY)
21 I had planted^(AZ) you like a choice vine^(BA)
    of sound and reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me
    into a corrupt,^(BB) wild vine?
²² Although you wash^(BC) yourself with soap^(BD)
    and use an abundance of cleansing powder,
    the stain of your guilt is still before me,”
declares the Sovereign Lord.^(BE)
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;^(BF)
    I have not run after the Baals’?^(BG)
See how you behaved in the valley;^(BH)
    consider what you have done.
You are a swift she-camel
    running^(BI) here and there,
²⁴ a wild donkey^(BJ) accustomed to the desert,^(BK)
    sniffing the wind in her craving—
    in her heat who can restrain her?
Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;
    at mating time they will find her.
²⁵ Do not run until your feet are bare
    and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!^(BL)
    I love foreign gods,^(BM)
    and I must go after them.’^(BN)

²⁶ “As a thief is disgraced^(BO) when he is caught,
    so the people of Israel are disgraced—
they, their kings and their officials,
    their priests^(BP) and their prophets.^(BQ)
27 They say to wood,^(BR) ‘You are my father,’
    and to stone,^(BS) ‘You gave me birth.’
They have turned their backs^(BT) to me
    and not their faces;^(BU)
yet when they are in trouble,^(BV) they say,
    ‘Come and save^(BW) us!’
²⁸ Where then are the gods^(BX) you made for yourselves?
    Let them come if they can save you
    when you are in trouble!^(BY)
For you, Judah, have as many gods
    as you have towns.^(BZ)

²⁹ “Why do you bring charges against me?
    You have all^(CA) rebelled against me,”
declares the Lord.
³⁰ “In vain I punished your people;
    they did not respond to correction.^(CB)
Your sword has devoured your prophets^(CC)
    like a ravenous lion.

“Have I been a desert to Israel
    or a land of great darkness?^(CD)
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
    we will come to you no more’?^(CE)
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
    a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten^(CF) me,
    days without number.
³³ How skilled you are at pursuing^(CG) love!
    Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
³⁴ On your clothes is found
    the lifeblood^(CH) of the innocent poor,
    though you did not catch them breaking in.^(CI)
Yet in spite of all this
³⁵     you say, ‘I am innocent;^(CJ)
    he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment^(CK) on you
    because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’^(CL)
36 Why do you go about so much,
    changing^(CM) your ways?
You will be disappointed by Egypt^(CN)
    as you were by Assyria.
³⁷ You will also leave that place
    with your hands on your head,^(CO)
for the Lord has rejected those you trust;
    you will not be helped^(CP) by them.

³ “Prepare your shields,^(G) both large and small,
    and march out for battle!
⁴ Harness the horses,
    mount the steeds!
Take your positions
    with helmets on!
Polish^(H) your spears,
    put on your armor!^(I)
5 What do I see?
    They are terrified,
they are retreating,
    their warriors are defeated.
They flee^(J) in haste
    without looking back,
    and there is terror^(K) on every side,”
declares the Lord.
⁶ “The swift cannot flee^(L)
    nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates^(M)
    they stumble and fall.^(N)

⁷ “Who is this that rises like the Nile,
    like rivers of surging waters?^(O)
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,^(P)
    like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
    I will destroy cities and their people.’^(Q)
9 Charge, you horses!
    Drive furiously, you charioteers!^(R)
March on, you warriors—men of Cush^[a](S) and Put who carry shields,
    men of Lydia^(T) who draw the bow.
¹⁰ But that day^(U) belongs to the Lord, the Lord Almighty—
    a day of vengeance^(V), for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour^(W) till it is satisfied,
    till it has quenched its thirst with blood.^(X)
For the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will offer sacrifice^(Y)
    in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.^(Z)

¹¹ “Go up to Gilead and get balm,^(AA)
    Virgin^(AB) Daughter Egypt.
But you try many medicines in vain;
    there is no healing^(AC) for you.
¹² The nations will hear of your shame;
    your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
    both will fall^(AD) down together.”

¹⁴ “Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
    proclaim it also in Memphis^(AG) and Tahpanhes:^(AH)
‘Take your positions and get ready,
    for the sword devours^(AI) those around you.’
¹⁵ Why will your warriors be laid low?
    They cannot stand, for the Lord will push them down.^(AJ)
16 They will stumble^(AK) repeatedly;
    they will fall^(AL) over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
    to our own people^(AM) and our native lands,
    away from the sword of the oppressor.’^(AN)
17 There they will exclaim,
    ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;^(AO)
    he has missed his opportunity.^(AP)’

¹⁸ “As surely as I live,” declares the King,^(AQ)
    whose name is the Lord Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor^(AR) among the mountains,
    like Carmel^(AS) by the sea.
¹⁹ Pack your belongings for exile,^(AT)
    you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis^(AU) will be laid waste^(AV)
    and lie in ruins without inhabitant.

²⁰ “Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
    but a gadfly is coming
    against her from the north.^(AW)
21 The mercenaries^(AX) in her ranks
    are like fattened calves.^(AY)
They too will turn and flee^(AZ) together,
    they will not stand their ground,
for the day^(BA) of disaster is coming upon them,
    the time^(BB) for them to be punished.
²² Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
    as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
    like men who cut down trees.^(BC)
23 They will chop down her forest,”
declares the Lord,
    “dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,^(BD)
    they cannot be counted.
²⁴ Daughter Egypt will be put to shame,
    given into the hands of the people of the north.^(BE)”

²⁷ “Do not be afraid,^(BM) Jacob^(BN) my servant;^(BO)
    do not be dismayed, Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
    your descendants from the land of their exile.^(BP)
Jacob will again have peace and security,
    and no one will make him afraid.
²⁸ Do not be afraid, Jacob my servant,
    for I am with you,”^(BQ) declares the Lord.
“Though I completely destroy^(BR) all the nations
    among which I scatter you,
    I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
    I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”