The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants5 of Jacob,

all you family groups from the nation6 of Israel.

2:5 This is what the Lord says:

“What fault could your ancestors7 have possibly found in me

that they strayed so far from me?8

They paid allegiance to9 worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.10

2:6 They did not ask:

‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,

who brought us through the wilderness,

through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,

through a land of drought and deep darkness,11

through a land in which no one travels,

and where no one lives?’12

2:7 I brought you13 into a fertile land

so you could enjoy14 its fruits and its rich bounty.

But when you entered my land, you defiled it;15

you made the land I call my own16 loathsome to me.

2:8 Your priests17 did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’18

Those responsible for teaching my law19 did not really know me.20

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.21

They all worshiped idols that could not help them.22