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20 Long ago I broke your yoke.
I[a] tore off your chains,
but you said, “I will not serve you!”
Instead, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawl out like a prostitute.
21 But I planted you as a very good vine,
healthy and from reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me?
How then did you turn into a wild vine?
22 Even if you scrub yourself with cleanser
and use a lot of strong soap,
the stain of your guilt is before me, declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:20 The translation follows the Hebrew reading. The Greek Old Testament reads you.

20 “For from long ago you have broken your yoke,
    you tore to pieces your bonds.
And you said, ‘I will not serve!’
    But on every high hill and under every leafy tree
    you were lying down as a prostitute.
21 Yet I planted you as a choice vine,
    all of it a seed of trustworthiness.
How then have you altered before me
    into something that is degenerate, the foreign vine?
22 For if you wash with natron,
    and you use much soap,[a]
your guilt is sticking as a stain before[b] me,”
    declares[c] the Lord Yahweh.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “make numerous for yourself alkaline salt”
  2. Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “to the face of”
  3. Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “a declaration of”