2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said: 2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: 1 ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, 2 how devoted you were to me in your early years. 3 I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted. 2:3 Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him. 4 All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,” says the Lord.’”
2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants 5 of Jacob,
all you family groups from the nation 6 of Israel.
2:5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault could your ancestors 7 have possibly found in me
that they strayed so far from me? 8
They paid allegiance to 9 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 you 13 into a fertile land
so you could enjoy 14 its fruits and its rich bounty.
But when you entered my land, you defiled it; 15
you made the land I call my own 16 loathsome to me.
2:8 Your priests 17 did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ 18
Those responsible for teaching my law 19 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
2:9 “So, once more I will state my case 23 against you,” says the Lord.
“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren. 24
2:10 Go west 25 across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus 26 and see.
Send someone east to Kedar 27 and have them look carefully.
See if such a thing as this has ever happened:
2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods
(even though they are not really gods at all)?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God, 28
for a god that cannot help them at all! 29
2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens! 30
Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”
says the Lord.
2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water, 31
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
2:14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?
He was not born into slavery, was he? 32
If not, why then is he being carried off?
2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;
they raise their voices in triumph. 33
They have laid his land waste;
his cities have been burned down and deserted. 34
2:16 Even the soldiers 35 from Memphis and Tahpanhes
have cracked your skulls, people of Israel. 36
2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel, 37
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path. 38
2:18 What good will it do you 39 then 40 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians? 41
What good will it do you 42 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians? 43
2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you. 44
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful 45
it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God, 46
to show no respect for me,” 47
says the Lord God who rules over all. 48
2:20 “Indeed, 49 long ago you threw off my authority
and refused to be subject to me. 50
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’ 51
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers. 52
2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes? 53
2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,” 54
says the Lord God. 55
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to 56 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom! 57
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path. 58