Jeremiah 2:28–37

²⁸But why not call on these gods you have made?

When trouble comes, let them save you if they can!

For you have as many gods

as there are towns in Judah.

²⁹Why do you accuse me of doing wrong?

You are the ones who have rebelled,”

says the Lord.

³⁰“I have punished your children,

but they did not respond to my discipline.

You yourselves have killed your prophets

as a lion kills its prey.

³¹“O my people, listen to the words of the Lord!

Have I been like a desert to Israel?

Have I been to them a land of darkness?

Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God!

We don’t need him anymore!’

³²Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

or a bride her wedding dress?

Yet for years on end

my people have forgotten me.

³³“How you plot and scheme to win your lovers.

Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!

³⁴Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor,

though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!

³⁵And yet you say,

‘I have done nothing wrong.

Surely God isn’t angry with me!’

But now I will punish you severely

because you claim you have not sinned.

³⁶First here, then there—

you flit from one ally to another asking for help.

But your new friends in Egypt will let you down,

just as Assyria did before.

³⁷In despair, you will be led into exile

with your hands on your heads,

for the Lord has rejected the nations you trust.

They will not help you at all.