Jeremiah 2:28–37

²⁸Where then are the gods^k 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 prophets^p

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

³²Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgotten^s me,

days without number.

³³How skilled you are at pursuing^t love!

Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

³⁴On your clothes is found

the lifeblood^u of the innocent poor,

though you did not catch them breaking in.^v

Yet in spite of all this

³⁵you say, ‘I am innocent;^w

he is not angry with me.’

But I will pass judgment^x on you

because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’^y

³⁶Why do you go about so much,

changing^z your ways?

You will be disappointed by Egypt^a

as you were by Assyria.

³⁷You will also leave that place

with your hands on your head,^b

for the Lord has rejected those you trust;

you will not be helped^c by them.