Jeremiah 2:20–25

Addicted to Alien Gods

^20–22“A long time ago you broke out of the harness.

You shook off all restraints.

You said, ‘I will not serve!’

and off you went,

Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,

like a common whore.

You were a select vine when I planted you

from completely reliable stock.

And look how you’ve turned out—

a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.

Scrub, using the strongest soaps.

Scour your skin raw.

The sin-grease won’t come out. I can’t stand to even look at you!”

God’s Decree, the Master’s Decree.

^23–24“How dare you tell me, ‘I’m not stained by sin.

I’ve never chased after the Baal sex gods’!

Well, look at the tracks you’ve left behind in the valley.

How do you account for what is written in the desert dust—

Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,

tracks of a wild donkey in rut,

Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.

Who could possibly corral her!

On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—

insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.

²⁵“Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry?

Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?

But you say, ‘I can’t help it.

I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.’