2:1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2:2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says:
“I remember regarding you the ①devotion of your youth,
Your love when you were a bride,
Your following after Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
▷ ①Or faithfulness
2:3 Israel was holy to the LORD,
The first of His harvest.
All who ate of it became guilty;
Evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.’ ”
2:4 Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
2:5 This is what the LORD says:
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me,
And walked after emptiness and became empty?
2:6 They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of ①deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no person lived?’
▷ ①Or the shadow of death
2:7 I brought you into the fruitful land
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and defiled My land,
And you made My inheritance an abomination.
2:8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
And those who handle the Law did not know Me;
The ①rulers also revolted against Me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after things that were of no benefit.
▷ ①Lit shepherds
2:9 “Therefore I will still contend with you,” declares the LORD,
“And I will contend with your sons’ sons.
2:10 For cross to the coastlands of ①Kittim and see,
And send to Kedar and observe closely,
And see if there has been anything like this!
▷ ①I.e., Cyprus and other islands
2:11 Has a nation changed gods,
When they were not gods?
But My people have exchanged their glory
For that which is of no benefit.
2:12 Be appalled at this, you heavens,
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD.
2:13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To carve out for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That do not hold water.
2:14 “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home?
Why has he become plunder?
2:15 The young lions have roared at him,
They have ①roared loudly.
And they have made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
▷ ①Lit given their voice
2:16 Also the ①men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
Have ②shaved your head.
▷ ①Lit sons ②Lit grazed
2:17 Have you not done this to yourself
By your abandoning the LORD your God
When He led you in the way?
2:18 But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt,
Except to drink the waters of the ①Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
▷ ①Heb Shihor
2:19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your apostasies will punish you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to abandon the LORD your God,
And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord ①GOD of armies.
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD
2:20 “For long ago ①I broke your yoke
And tore off your restraints;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every leafy tree
You have lain down as a prostitute.
▷ ①Or you
2:21 Yet I planted you as a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
2:22 Although you wash yourself with lye
And ①use much soap,
The stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord ②GOD.
▷ ①Lit acquire much soap for yourself ②Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,
2:24 A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
Who can turn her away in her mating season?
None who seek her will grow weary;
In her month they will find her.
2:25 Keep your feet from being bare,
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘It is ①hopeless!
No! For I have loved strangers,
And I will walk after them.’
▷ ①Or desperate
2:26 “Like the shame of a thief when he is discovered,
So the house of Israel is shamed;
They, their kings, their leaders,
Their priests, and their prophets,
2:27 Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the time of their ①trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us!’
▷ ①Or evil
2:28 But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you
In the time of your ①trouble!
For as many as the number of your cities
Are your gods, Judah.
▷ ①Or evil
2:29 “Why do you contend with Me?
You have all revolted against Me,” declares the LORD.
2:30 “In vain I have struck your sons;
They did not accept discipline.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
2:31 You generation, look to the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam;
We will no longer come to You’?
2:32 Can a virgin forget her jewelry,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
For days without number.
2:33 How well you prepare your way
To seek love!
Therefore even to the wicked women
You have taught your ways.
2:34 Also on your skirts is found
The lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them breaking in.
But in spite of all these things,
2:35 You said, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger is turned away from me.’
Behold, I will enter into judgment with you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
2:36 Why do you go around so much
Changing your way?
Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt,
Just as you were put to shame by Assyria.
2:37 From this place as well you will go out
With your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
And you will not prosper with them.”