1. And he said, Thus saith the Lord,
2. I remember the [Gr. mercy] kindness of thy youth, and the love of thine espousals,
3. in following the Holy One of Israel, saith the Lord, Israel was the holy people to the Lord, and the first-fruits of his increase: al that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.
4. Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel.
5. Thus saith the Lord, What trespass have your fathers found in me, that they have revolted far from me, and gone after vanities, and become vain?
6. And they said not, Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land which no man at all went through, and no man dwelt there?
7. And I brought you to Carmel, that ye should eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof; and ye went in, and defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
8. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held by the law knew me not: the shepherds also sinned against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after that which profited not.
9. Therefore I will yet plead with you, [Heb. and Alex. +’saith the Lord’] and will plead with your children’s children.
10. For go to the isles of the Chettians, and see; and send to Kedar, and observe accurately, and see if such things have been done;
11. [Or, will the nations, etc.] if the nations will change their gods, though they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory, for that from which they shall not be profited.
12. The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horror-struck, saith the Lord.
13. For my people has committed two faults, and evil ones: they have forsaken me, the fountain of water of life, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.
14. Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? why has he become a spoil?
15. The lions roared upon him, and uttered their voice, which have made his land a wilderness: and his cities are broken down, that they should not be inhabited.
16. Also the children of Memphis and Taphnas have known thee, and mocked thee.
17. Has not thy forsaking me brought these things upon thee? saith the Lord thy God.
18. And now what hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Geon? and what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of rivers?
19. Thine apostasy shall correct thee, and thy wickedness shall reprove thee: know then, and see, that thy forsaking me has been bitter to thee, saith the Lord thy God; and I have taken no pleasure in thee, saith the Lord thy God.
20. For of old thou hast broken thy yoke, and plucked asunder thy bands; and thou has said, I will not serve thee, but will go upon every high hill, and under every shady tree, there will I [Lit. be spread abroad] indulge in my fornication.
21. Yet I planted thee a fruitful vine, [Gr. all true] entirely of the right sort: how art thou a strange vine turned to bitterness!
22. Though thou shouldest wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself soap, still thou art stained by thine iniquities before me, saith the Lord.
23. How wilt thou say, I am not polluted, and have not gone after Baal? behold thy ways in the [Heb. valley, i. e. probably that of Hinnom] burial-ground, and know what thou hast done: her voice has howled in the evening:
24. she has extended her ways over the waters of the desert; she was hurried along by the lusts of her soul; she is given up to them, who will turn her back? none that seek her shall be weary; at the time of her humiliation they shall find her.
25. Withdraw thy foot from a rough way, and thy throat from thirst: but she said I will [Gr. act like a man] strengthen myself: for she loved strangers, and went after them.
26. As is the shame of a thief when he is caught, so shall the children of Israel be ashamed; they, and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.
27. They said to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou has begotten me: and they have turned their backs to me, and not their faces: yet in the time of their afflictions they will say, Arise, and save us.
28. And where are thy gods, which thou madest for thyself? will they arise and save in the time of thine affliction? for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal.
29. Wherefore do ye speak unto me? ye all have been ungodly, and ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord.
30. In vain have I smitten your children; ye have not received correction: a sword has devoured your prophets as a destroying lion; yet ye feared not.
31. Hear ye the word of the Lord: thus saith the Lord, Have I been a wilderness or a dry land to Israel? wherefore has my people said, We will not be ruled over, and will not come to thee any more?
32. Will a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin [Gr. the girdle of her bosom] her girdle? but my people has forgotten me days without number.
33. What fair device wilt thou yet employ in thy ways, so as to seek love? it shall not be so; moreover thou has done wickedly in corrupting thy ways;
34. and in thine hands has been found the blood of innocent souls; I have not found them [q. d. by diligent search] in holes, but on every oak.
35. Yet thou saidst, I am innocent: only let his wrath be turned away from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, whereas thou sayest, I have not sinned.
36. For [Lit. «thou hast exceedingly scorned to repeat’] thou has been so exceedingly contemptuous as to repeat thy ways; but thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assur.
37. For thou shalt go forth thence also with thine hands upon thine head; for the Lord has rejected thine hope, and thou shalt not prosper in it.