Jeremiah 2:14–25

14 “Is Israel aa slave? Or is he a homeborn servant?

Why has he become a prey?

15 “The young alions have roared at him,

They have 1roared loudly.

And they have bmade his land a waste;

His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.

16 “Also the 1men of aMemphis and Tahpanhes

Have 2shaved the bcrown of your head.

17 “Have you not adone this to yourself

By your forsaking the Lord your God

When He aled you in the way?

18 “But now what are you doing aon the road to Egypt,

To drink the waters of the 1bNile?

Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,

To drink the waters of the 2Euphrates?

19 “aYour own wickedness will correct you,

And your bapostasies will reprove you;

Know therefore and see that it is evil and cbitter

For you to forsake the Lord your God,

And dthe dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord 1God of hosts.

20 “For long ago 1aI broke your yoke

And tore off your bonds;

But you said, ‘I will not serve!’

For on every bhigh hill

And under every green tree

You have lain down as a harlot.

21 “Yet I aplanted you a choice vine,

A completely faithful seed.

How then have you turned yourself before Me

Into the bdegenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

22 “Although you awash yourself with lye

And 1use much soap,

The bstain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord 2God.

23 “aHow can you say, ‘I am not defiled,

I have not gone after the bBaals’?

Look at your way in the cvalley!

Know what you have done!

You are a swift young camel dentangling her ways,

24 A awild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,

That sniffs the wind in her passion.

In the time of her 1heat who can turn her away?

All who seek her will not become weary;

In her month they will find her.

25 “Keep your feet from being unshod

And your throat from thirst;

But you said, ‘aIt is 1hopeless!

No! For I have bloved strangers,

And after them I will walk.’