Jeremiah 2:19–32

19 Your wickedness will punish you;

your backslidingb will rebukec you.

Consider then and realize

how evil and bitterd it is for you

when you forsakee the Lord your God

and have no awef of me,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

20 “Long ago you broke off your yokeg

and tore off your bonds;h

you said, ‘I will not serve you!’i

Indeed, on every high hillj

and under every spreading treek

you lay down as a prostitute.l

21 I had plantedm you like a choice vinen

of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

into a corrupt,o wild vine?

22 Although you washp yourself with soapq

and use an abundance of cleansing powder,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.r

23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;s

I have not run after the Baals’?t

See how you behaved in the valley;u

consider what you have done.

You are a swift she-camel

runningv here and there,

24 a wild donkeyw accustomed to the desert,x

sniffing the wind in her craving—

in her heat who can restrain her?

Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;

at mating time they will find her.

25 Do not run until your feet are bare

and your throat is dry.

But you said, ‘It’s no use!y

I love foreign gods,z

and I must go after them.’a

26 “As a thief is disgracedb when he is caught,

so the people of Israel are disgraced—

they, their kings and their officials,

their priestsc and their prophets.d

27 They say to wood,e ‘You are my father,’

and to stone,f ‘You gave me birth.’

They have turned their backsg to me

and not their faces;h

yet when they are in trouble,i they say,

‘Come and savej us!’

28 Where then are the godsk you made for yourselves?

Let them come if they can save you

when you are in trouble!l

For you, Judah, have as many gods

as you have towns.m

29 “Why do you bring charges against me?

You have alln rebelled against me,”

declares the Lord.

30 “In vain I punished your people;

they did not respond to correction.o

Your sword has devoured your prophetsp

like a ravenous lion.

31 “You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel

or a land of great darkness?q

Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;

we will come to you no more’?r

32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgottens me,

days without number.