Yahweh Remembers Israel’s Faithfulness

2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, ⌊saying⌋,b ‘Thus says Yahweh,

“I remember concerning you the loyal love of your childhood,c

the love of your betrothal-time,

your goingd after me in the desert,e

in the land not sown.

3 Israel was holy to Yahweh,

the first fruit of his produce.

All those who ate it were held guilty;

disaster came to them,” ⌊declares⌋f Yahweh.’ ”

The Unfaithfulness of Israel’s Ancestors

4 Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the clansg of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says Yahweh:

“What injustice did your ancestorsh find in me

that they were far from me,

and they went after the vanity,

and they became vain?

6 And they did not say,

‘Where is Yahweh,

the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

the one who led us in the desert,i

in a land of desert plains and gorges,j

in a land of dryness and deep darkness,

in a land ⌊that no one passes through⌋,k

and no human lives there?’

7 And I brought you to the land of the orchard,

to eat its fruit, and its good things.l

But you entered and defiled my land,

and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.m

8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’

and those who handle the law did not know me,

and the shepherds have ⌊rebelled against me⌋,n

and the prophets prophesied by Baal,

and they went after things which do not profit.

The Unfaithfulness of Contemporary Israel

9 ⌊Therefore⌋o I again bring a lawsuit against you,” ⌊declares⌋p Yahweh,

“and with ⌊your children⌋q I bring a lawsuit.

10 For go over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,

and send to Kedar and consider very closely,

and see if there has been a thing like this:

11 Has a nation exchanged gods? And they are not gods!

But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder;

be utterly desolate,” ⌊declares⌋r Yahweh.

13 “For my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me, the sources of living water,

to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

14 Is Israel a slave? Or ⌊a slave born in a house⌋?t

Why has he become plunder?

15 The young lions have roared against him,

they have ⌊raised⌋u their voices.v

And they have made his land as horror;

his cities are destroyed, ⌊without⌋w an inhabitant.

16 Moreover, people of Memphis and Tahpanhes

will ⌊shave⌋x your skull.y

17 Did you not do this to yourself,

by forsaking Yahweh, your God,

at the time of your leading in the way?

18 And now ⌊why do you go⌋z the way of Egypt

to drink the waters of the Shihor?

And ⌊why do you go⌋a the way of Assyria

to drink the waters of the ⌊Euphrates⌋?b

19 Your wickedness will chastise you,

and your apostasies will reprove you.

Therefore know and see that it is evil and bitter,

your forsaking of Yahweh, your God,

and fear of me is not in you,”

⌊declares⌋c the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

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⌋,d

your guilt is sticking as a stain ⌊before⌋e me,”

⌊declares⌋f the Lord Yahweh.

23 “How can you say, ‘I have not defiled myself,

I have not gone after the Baals?’

Look at your way in the valley,

know what you have done.

You are a young she-camel,

interweaving her ways.

24 A wild ass accustomed to the desert,g

in the desire of her soul.

She gasps for wind in her rutting time.

Who can quellh her lust?

All those who seek her will not grow weary,

in her month they will find her.

25 Restrain your foot from being barefoot,

and your throat from thirst.

But you said, ‘It is hopeless.

No! For I have loved strangers,

and after them I will go.’i