5  ⁱ“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born ^jI consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet ^kto the nations.”

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;

for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,

and ⁿwhatever I command you, you shall speak.

8  ^oDo not be afraid of them,

^pfor I am with you to deliver you,

declares the Lord.”

“Behold, I have put ^smy words in your mouth.

10  See, I have set you this day ^kover nations and over kingdoms,

^tto pluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.”

“I remember the devotion of ^kyour youth,

your love ^las a bride,

^mhow you followed me in the wilderness,

ⁿin a land not sown.

3  ^oIsrael was holy to the Lord,

^pthe firstfruits of his harvest.

^qAll who ate of it incurred guilt;

disaster came upon them,

declares the Lord.”

^r“What wrong did your fathers find in me

that they went far from me,

^sand went after ^tworthlessness, and became worthless?

6  They did not say, ^u‘Where is the Lord

who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

who led us ^vin the wilderness,

in a land of deserts and pits,

in a land of drought and deep darkness,

in a land that none passes through,

where no man dwells?’

7  ^wAnd I brought you into a plentiful land

to enjoy its fruits and its good things.

But when you came in, ^xyou defiled my land

and made my heritage an abomination.

8  The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’

^yThose who handle the law did not know me;

^zthe shepherds¹ transgressed against me;

^athe prophets prophesied by Baal

and went after ^bthings that do not profit.

9  “Therefore ^cI still contend with you,

declares the Lord,

and ^dwith your children’s children I will contend.

10  For cross to the coasts of ^eCyprus and see,

or send to ^fKedar and examine with care;

see if there has been such a thing.

11  ^gHas a nation changed its gods,

^heven though they are no gods?

But my people ⁱhave changed their glory

for ^bthat which does not profit.

12  Be appalled, ^jO heavens, at this;

be shocked, be utterly desolate,

declares the Lord,

13  for my people have committed two evils:

^kthey have forsaken ^lme,

the fountain of ^mliving waters,

and hewed out cisterns for themselves,

broken cisterns that can hold no water.

14  ⁿ“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?

Why then has he become a prey?

15  ^oThe lions have roared against him;

they have roared loudly.

They have made his land a waste;

his cities are in ruins, ^pwithout inhabitant.

16  Moreover, the men of ^qMemphis and ^rTahpanhes

^shave shaved² the crown of your head.

17  ^tHave you not brought this upon yourself

by forsaking the Lord your God,

when ^uhe led you in the way?

18  ^vAnd now what do you gain by going to Egypt

to drink the waters of ^wthe Nile?

^xOr what do you gain by going to Assyria

to drink the waters of ^ythe Euphrates?³

19  ^zYour evil will chastise you,

and ^ayour apostasy will reprove you.

Know and see that it is evil and ^bbitter

for ^cyou to forsake the Lord your God;

the fear of me is not in you,

declares the Lord God of hosts.

20  “For long ago I ^dbroke your yoke

and burst your bonds;

but you said, ^e‘I will not serve.’

Yes, ^fon every high hill

and under every green tree

you bowed down ^glike a whore.

21  ^hYet I planted you a choice vine,

wholly of pure seed.

ⁱHow then have you turned degenerate

and become a wild vine?

22  Though you wash yourself with lye

and use much soap,

^jthe stain of your guilt is still before me,

declares the Lord God.

23  ^kHow can you say, ‘I am not unclean,

I have not gone after the Baals’?

Look at your way ^lin the valley;

know what you have done—

a restless young camel running here and there,

24  ^ma wild donkey used to the wilderness,

in her heat sniffing the wind!

Who can restrain her lust?

None who seek her need weary themselves;

in her month they will find her.

25  Keep ⁿyour feet from going unshod

and ^oyour throat from thirst.

But you said, ‘It is hopeless,

^pfor I have loved foreigners,

and after them I will go.’

26  “As a thief is shamed when caught,

so the house of Israel shall be shamed:

^qthey, their kings, their officials,

their priests, and their prophets,

27  who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’

and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have turned their back to me,

and not their face.

But ^rin the time of their trouble they say,

‘Arise and save us!’

28  But ^swhere are your gods

that you made for yourself?

Let them arise, ^tif they can save you,

in your time of trouble;

for ^uas many as your cities

are your gods, O Judah.

29  “Why do you contend with me?

You have all transgressed against me,

declares the Lord.

30  In vain have I ^vstruck your children;

they took no correction;

^wyour own sword devoured your prophets

like a ravening lion.

31  And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.

Have I been a wilderness to Israel,

or a land of thick darkness?

Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,

we will come no more to you’?

32  ^xCan a virgin forget her ornaments,

or a bride her attire?

Yet ^ymy people have forgotten me

days without number.

33  “How well you direct your course

to seek love!

So that even to wicked women

you have taught your ways.

34  Also on your skirts is found

^zthe lifeblood of the guiltless poor;

you did not find them ^abreaking in.

Yet in spite of all these things

35  you say, ‘I am innocent;

surely his anger has turned from me.’

^bBehold, I will bring you to judgment

for ^csaying, ‘I have not sinned.’

36  ^dHow much you go about,

changing your way!

You shall be ^eput to shame by Egypt

as you were put to shame by Assyria.

37  From it too you will come away

with ^fyour hands on your head,

for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,

and you will not prosper by them.

3  ^g“If¹ a man divorces his wife

and she goes from him

and becomes another man’s wife,

will he return to her?

^hWould not that land be greatly polluted?

ⁱYou have played the whore with many lovers;

and would you return to me?

declares the Lord.

2  Lift up your eyes to ^jthe bare heights, and see!

Where have you not been ravished?

^kBy the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers

like an Arab in the wilderness.

^hYou have polluted the land

with your vile whoredom.

3  ^lTherefore the showers have been withheld,

and the spring rain has not come;

yet you have ^mthe forehead of a whore;

you refuse to be ashamed.

4  Have you not just now ⁿcalled to me,

‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—

5  ^owill he be angry forever,

will he be indignant to the end?’

Behold, you have spoken,

but you have done all the evil that you could.”

^z“‘Return, faithless Israel,

declares the Lord.

I will not look on you in anger,

for ^aI am merciful,

declares the Lord;

^bI will not be angry forever.

13  ^cOnly acknowledge your guilt,

that you rebelled against the Lord your God

and scattered your favors among foreigners under ^devery green tree,

and that you have not obeyed my voice,

declares the Lord.

14  ^eReturn, O faithless children,

declares the Lord;

^ffor I am your master;

I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

and I will bring you to Zion.

19  “‘I said,

How I would set you among my sons,

and give you a pleasant land,

a heritage most beautiful of all nations.

And I thought you would ⁿcall me, My Father,

and would not turn from following me.

20  ^oSurely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,

so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.’”

21  A voice on the ^pbare heights is heard,

^qthe weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons

because they have perverted their way;

they have forgotten the Lord their God.

22  ^r“Return, O faithless sons;

^sI will heal your faithlessness.”

“Behold, we come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

23  Truly ^tthe hills are a delusion,

the orgies² on the mountains.

^uTruly in the Lord our God

is the salvation of Israel.

4  “If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,

^xto me you should return.

If you remove your detestable things from my presence,

^yand do not waver,

2  ^zand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then ^anations shall bless themselves in him,

^band in him shall they glory.”

^c“Break up your fallow ground,

and ^dsow not among thorns.

4  ^eCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

^flest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

^gbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

^h“Blow the trumpet through the land;

cry aloud and say,

ⁱ‘Assemble, and let us go

into the fortified cities!’

6  ^jRaise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from ^kthe north,

^land great destruction.

7  ^mA lion has gone up from his thicket,

a destroyer of nations has set out;

he has gone out from his place

to make your land a waste;

your cities will be ruins

ⁿwithout inhabitant.

8  For this ^oput on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for ^pthe fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned back from us.”

13  Behold, he comes up like clouds;

^uhis chariots like the whirlwind;

his horses are ^vswifter than eagles—

woe to us, ^wfor we are ruined!

14  O Jerusalem, ^xwash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall your wicked thoughts

lodge within you?

15  For a voice ^ydeclares from Dan

and proclaims trouble from ^zMount Ephraim.

16  Warn the nations that he is coming;

announce to Jerusalem,

“Besiegers come ^afrom a distant land;

they shout against the cities of Judah.

17  Like keepers of a field ^bare they against her all around,

because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.

18  Your ways and your deeds

have brought this upon you.

This is your doom, and ^cit is bitter;

it has reached your very heart.”

19  ^dMy anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

Oh the walls of my heart!

My heart is beating wildly;

I cannot keep silent,

for I hear the sound of the trumpet,

the alarm of war.

20  ^eCrash follows hard on crash;

the whole land is laid waste.

^fSuddenly my tents are laid waste,

my curtains in a moment.

21  How long must I see the standard

and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22  “For ^gmy people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

^hThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

23  I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ⁱwithout form and void;

^jand to the heavens, and they had no light.

24  I looked on ^kthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

25  ^lI looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

26  I looked, and behold, the ^mfruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before ⁿhis fierce anger.

28  ^p“For this the earth shall mourn,

^qand the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

^rI have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

29  At the noise of horseman and archer

every city takes to flight;

they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

all the cities are forsaken,

and ^sno man dwells in them.

30  And you, O desolate one,

what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,

^tthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

^uthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself.

^vYour lovers despise you;

they seek your life.

31  For I heard ^wa cry as of a woman in labor,

anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,

the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

^xstretching out her hands,

“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

5  ^yRun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

look and take note!

Search her squares to see

^zif you can find a man,

one who does justice

and seeks truth,

^athat I may pardon her.

2  ^bThough they say, “As the Lord lives,”

^cyet they swear falsely.

3  O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?