Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸ You took us like a grapevine dug from the soil of Egypt;
    You forced out the nations and transplanted it in Your land.
⁹ You groomed the ground around it,
    planted it so it would root deep into the earth, and it covered all the land.
¹⁰ As it grew, the mountains were blanketed by its shadow;
    the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
¹¹ The plant extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea,
    and spread its shoots all the way to the Euphrates River.
¹² God, why have You pulled down the wall that protected it
    so that everyone who wanders by can pick its sweet grapes?
¹³ The wild boar of the forest eats it all,
    and the creatures of the field feast upon it.

¹⁴ O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, come back to us.
    Gaze down from heaven and see what has happened.
Keep watch over this vine, and nourish it.
¹⁵ Look after the saplings which You planted with Your own right hand,
    the child whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.

¹⁴ Is Israel some common slave, born into bondage?
Why has he been carted off as if he were the spoil of battle?
¹⁵ The nations have circled him like hungry young lions,
    roaring and growling their war cries.
They have left Israel a wasteland—
    the cities destroyed and the people scattered.
¹⁶ Even your Egyptian allies, from Memphis and Tahpanhes,
    have stripped you of land and your crowning glory.
¹⁷ Is there anyone to blame but yourself?
    Weren’t you the ones who abandoned the Eternal,
Your True God, even as He led you on this journey?

¹⁸ Eternal One: What do you hope to accomplish by going to Egypt
        and drinking from the waters of the Nile?
    What do you think you will gain by traveling to Assyria
        and drinking from the waters of the Euphrates?
¹⁹     It is your wickedness that will punish you
        and your desertion of My ways that will convict you.
    See the evil and taste the bitterness of forsaking the one True God, the Eternal.
        At the core of this evil is the sad truth that you have forgotten the wonder and terror of who I am.

²⁰ Eternal One (to His people): A long time ago, I broke the yoke that weighed you down
        and tore off the chains that enslaved you;
    Still you boldly said, “I will not serve You!”
        Instead, you bowed down like a whore to pagan gods on the high hills, under every green tree.
²¹     I am the One who planted you like a select vine, chosen from vintage stock.
        How could you turn into such a useless, wild weed of a vine?
²²     You can scrub yourself with all the soap you want,
        but you’ll never be able to wash away the stain of what you’ve done before Me.