Beginning

⁵ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
    and before you were born I consecrated you.
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Do not say, “I am only a young boy.”
    You will go to whomever I send you,
    and you will speak whatever I command you.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
    for I am with you to deliver you,
    says the Lord.

Behold, I have placed my words into your mouth.
¹⁰ This day I have established you
    over nations and kingdoms,
to uproot and to pull down,
    to destroy and to demolish,
    to build and to plant.

From the north disaster will boil over
    upon all the inhabitants of the land.
¹⁵ For now I am summoning all the tribes
    of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord.
Their kings will advance,
    and each will establish his throne
    in front of the gates of Jerusalem,
against all its surrounding walls
    and against all the cities of Judah.
¹⁶ I will issue my judgments against them
    for all their wickedness in abandoning me,
in offering sacrifices to other gods
    and worshiping what their hands have fashioned.
¹⁷ As for you, be prepared for action;
    stand up and tell them
    everything that I command you.
Do not have any fear of them
    or I will make you cringe in terror before them.
¹⁸ For this very day
    I have made you into a fortified city,
a pillar of iron, a wall of bronze,
    to overcome the entire country—
the kings and the princes of Judah,
    its priests and its people.
¹⁹ They will fight against you
    but they will not be victorious,
for I will be at your side to deliver you,
    says the Lord.

I remember the devotion you displayed in your youth,
    your love like that of a bride,
when you followed me through the desert,
    through a land that was unsown.
³ Israel was sacred to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
Any people who partook of them were deemed guilty,
    and disaster afflicted them, says the Lord.

What fault did your ancestors find in me
    that causes them to stray so far from my side,
pursuing worthless idols^[e]
    and thereby becoming worthless themselves?
⁶ They never thought to ask, “Where is the Lord
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt
and led us through the wilderness,
    through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and intense darkness,
    a land through which no one travels,
    and a land in which no one dwells?”
⁷ I brought you into a fertile land
    bursting forth with fruit and rich produce.
But when you entered, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage loathsome.
⁸ The priests did not ask,
    “Where is the Lord?”
Those who dealt with the law did not know me,
    and even the shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
    and worshiped gods who were powerless.
⁹ Therefore, says the Lord,
    I will once again accuse you,
and I will further accuse
    even your children’s children.
¹⁰ Cross over to the coast of the Kittim^[f] and inquire;
    send to Kedar and observe carefully.
See if anything similar to this
    has ever previously occurred.
¹¹ Has a nation ever changed its gods,
    even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glory
    for something that cannot help them in any way,
¹² Be incredulous at this, O heavens;
    shudder in your horror, says the Lord.
¹³ For my people are guilty of two evils:
    they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living water,
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
    cracked cisterns that hold no water.
¹⁴ Is Israel a slave?
    Was he born to be a servant?
    Why then has he become plunder?
¹⁵ His enemies roar loudly at him like lions;^[g]
    they have made his country a wasteland;
    his cities are burned to the ground and deserted.
¹⁶ The people of Memphis^[h] and Tahpanhes
    have shaved the crown of your head.
¹⁷ Have you not brought all this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord, your God,
    when he guided you along the way?
¹⁸ What advantage would you now achieve
    by traveling to Egypt
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
What would you gain by traveling to Assyria
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
¹⁹ Your wickedness will bring about your punishment,
    and your infidelities will condemn you.
Therefore, concentrate your thoughts
    and see how bitter it is
    to forsake the Lord, your God,
and to have no fear of me,
    says the Lord, the God of hosts.
²⁰ A long time ago you broke your yoke
    and burst your bonds,
    saying, “I will not serve.”
On every high hill
    and under every green tree
    you have sprawled and given yourself to harlotry.
²¹ I had planted you as a choice vine
    from the purest stock.
How then did you degenerate
    into a wild and corrupt vine?
²² Even if you would scrub yourself with lye
    and use soap in great abundance,
the stain of your guilt
    would still be clearly visible to me,
    says the Lord God.
²³ How can you say, “I am not defiled;
    I have not gone after the Baals”?
Recall your conduct in the valley;
    realize what you have done:
you have been like a restless she-camel
²⁴     sniffing the wind in her lust;
    who can restrain her ardor?
No males should exhaust themselves seeking her;
    in her month they will find her.
²⁵ You should stop before you wear out your shoes
    and your throat becomes parched.
But you said, “It is hopeless.
    I love these strangers,
    and I must go after them.”
²⁶ As a thief is ashamed when he is caught,
    so the house of Israel will be ashamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
    their priests, and their prophets,
²⁷ those who say to a piece of wood, “You are my father,”
    and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
They have turned their backs to me,
    not their faces;
yet, in their time of trouble, they cry out,
    “Rise up and save us!”
²⁸ Where are the gods you have made for yourself?
    Let them come to save you
    in your time of trouble.
For you have as many towns
    as you have gods, O Judah.
²⁹ Why do you dare to plead with me?
    You have all rebelled against me, says the Lord.
³⁰ In vain I struck down your children,
    but they refused to accept my correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets
    like a ravening lion.
³¹ You of this generation,
    behold the word of the Lord!
Have I been a desert for Israel
    or a land of darkness?
Why then do my people say,
    “We have broken away;
    we will come to you no more”?
³² Does a girl forget her jewelry
    or a bride her sash?
Yet for days beyond number
    my people have forgotten me.
³³ How well you direct your course
    in the pursuit of love.
Even wanton women have profited
    from their observance of your ways.
³⁴ On your clothing can be found
    the life-blood of the innocent poor,
    whom you never caught breaking into a house.
Despite all this,^[i]
35 you continue to proclaim, “I am innocent;
    obviously, he has no cause to be angry with me.”
But behold, I will bring judgment upon you
    for claiming that you have not sinned.
³⁶ How nonchalant you are
    as you change your course.
Just as you were shamed by Assyria,
    you will be put to shame by Egypt.
³⁷ From there also you will depart
    with your hands upon your head.
For the Lord has rejected those upon whom you rely,
    and with them you will not prosper.

^1 [j]If a man divorces his wife,
    and she leaves him
    and marries another man,
does he have the right to return to her?
    Would not that land be completely defiled?
But, says the Lord,
    you have been unfaithful with many lovers,
    and yet you would return to me?
² Lift up your eyes to the barren heights
    and recall whether there is any place
    that you have not offered your body to another.
By the waysides you waited for lovers
    like an Arab in the desert.
You defiled the land
    with your harlotry and wickedness.
³ Therefore, the rain showers were withheld
    and the spring rains have not fallen.
Yet you have the brazen boldness of a prostitute,
    and you refuse to blush with shame.
⁴ Not so long ago you addressed me,
    “My Father, the beloved friend of my youth,
⁵ will you be angry with me forever
    and continue your wrath toward me to the end?”
This is how you speak,
    but you continue to be obstinate
    and to do every evil you can.

Return, rebel Israel, says the Lord.
    I will not look upon you in anger.
For I am merciful, says the Lord;
    my wrath will not continue forever.
¹³ Simply acknowledge your guilt
    and your rebellion against the Lord, your God,
how you prostituted yourself with strangers
    under every green tree
and refused to listen to my voice,
    says the Lord.

^{19     [l]}I then gave consideration
    as to how I would treat you as sons
and give you a pleasant land,
    the most beautiful heritage of all the nations.
Further, I thought that you would call me “Father” and never cease to follow me.
²⁰ But like a woman who is unfaithful to her husband,
    so you have been unfaithful to me,
    O house of Israel, says the Lord.
²¹ A cry on the bare heights is heard,
    the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children,
because they have perverted their ways
    and forgotten the Lord, their God.
²² Return, you rebellious children,
    and I will forgive your faithlessness.
Here we are! We are returning to you,
    for you are the Lord, our God.
²³ The hills are truly a delusion,
    as is the tumult on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord, our God alone
    is the salvation of Israel.
²⁴ Ever since we were young,
    Baal has devoured everything
    for which our fathers toiled:
their flocks and their herds,
    their sons and their daughters.
²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame
    and let our dishonor cover us.
For we have sinned against the Lord, our God,
    we and our ancestors,
from our youth even to this very day,
    and we failed to obey the voice of the Lord, our God.