Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”

And I will pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, since they have abandoned Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.

Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory For that which is of no benefit.

Have you not done this to yourself By your abandoning the Lord your God When He led you in the way?

Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will punish you; Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter For you to abandon the Lord your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of armies.

Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord God.

But where are your gods Which you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you In the time of your trouble! For as many as the number of your cities Are your gods, Judah.

The Defiled Land

God says, “If a husband divorces his wife And she leaves him And becomes another man’s wife, Will he return to her again? Would that land not be completely defiled? But you are a prostitute with many lovers; Yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord.

God Invites Repentance

And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah.

Only acknowledge your wrongdoing, That you have revolted against the Lord your God, And have scattered your favors to the strangers under every leafy tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.

A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping, the pleading of the sons of Israel. Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the Lord their God.

“Return, you faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.

Certainly the hills are a deception, Commotion on the mountains. Certainly in the Lord our God Is the salvation of Israel.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

Then I said, “Oh, Lord God! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; yet a sword touches the throat.”

Jerusalem’s Godlessness

“Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem, And look and take notice. And seek in her public squares, If you can find a person, If there is one who does justice, who seeks honesty, Then I will forgive her.

Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the judgment of their God.

I will go to the great And speak to them, For they know the way of the Lord And the judgment of their God.” But together they too have broken the yoke And burst the restraints.

“Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And stayed at the prostitute’s house.

Judgment Proclaimed

Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of armies says: “Because you have spoken this word, Behold, I am making My words fire in your mouth, And this people wood, and it will consume them.

And it shall come about when they say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘Just as you have abandoned Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

They do not say in their heart, “Let us now fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its season, Both the autumn rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place.

if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor follow other gods to your own ruin,

Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,