What iniquity have your fathers found in me,
that they are gone far from me,
and have walked after vanity,
and are become vain?
⁶ Neither said they,
Where is the LORD that bought us up -- [us] -- out of the land of Egypt,
that led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought,
and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no man passed through,
and where no man dwelt?
⁷ And I bought you into a plentiful country,
to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof;
but when ye entered, ye defiled [this] my land,
and made mine heritage an abomination.
⁸ The priests said not,
Where is the LORD?
and they that handle the law knew me not:
the pastors also transgressed against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ Wherefore I will yet plead with you,
saith the LORD,
and with your children's children will I plead.
¹⁰ For pass over the isles of Chittim,
and see;
and send unto Kedar,
and consider diligently,
and see if there be such a thing.
¹¹ Hath a nation changed their gods,
which are yet no gods?
but my people have changed their glory
for that which doth not profit.
¹² Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this,
and be horribly afraid,
be ye very desolate,
saith the LORD.
¹³ For my people have committed two evils;
they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters,
and hewed them out cisterns,
broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.

¹⁴ Is Israel a servant?
is he a homeborn slave [ one born of a house]?
why is he spoiled?
¹⁵ The young lions roared upon him,
and yelled [they give their voice],
and they made his land waste:
his cities are burned without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes
have broken the crown of thy head.
¹⁷ Hast thou not procured this unto thyself,
in that thou hast forsaken [this] the LORD thy God,
when he led thee by the way?
¹⁸ And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt,
to drink the waters of Sihor?
or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria,
to drink the waters of the river?
¹⁹ Thine own wickedness correct thee,
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee:
know therefore and see
that it is an evil thing and bitter,
that thou hast forsaken [this] the LORD thy God,
and that my fear is not in thee,
saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

²⁰ For of old time
I have broken thy yoke,
and burst thy bands;
and thou saidst,
I will not transgress;
when upon every high hill
and under every green tree
thou wanderest,
playing the harlot.
²¹ Yet I had planted thee a noble vine,
wholly a right seed:
how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?
²² For though thou wash thee with nitre,
and take thee much soap,
yet thine iniquity is marked before me,
saith the Lord GOD.
²³ How canst thou say,
I am not polluted,
I have not gone after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley,
know what thou hast done:
thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
²⁴ A wild ass used to the wilderness,
that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure [in yearning of her soul];
in her occasion who can turn her away?
all they that seek her will not weary themselves;
in her month they shall find her.
²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod,
and thy throat from thirst:
but thou saidst,
There is no hope:
no;
for I have loved strangers,
and after them will I go.

²⁶ As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
so is the house of Israel ashamed;
they,
their kings,
their princes,
and their priests,
and their prophets,
²⁷ Saying to a stock,
Thou art my father;
and to a stone,
Thou hast bought me forth:
for they have turned their back unto me,
and not their face:
but in the time of their trouble they will say,
Arise,
and save us.
²⁸ But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee?
let them arise,
if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble:
for according to the number of thy cities
are thy gods, O Judah.

²⁹ Wherefore will ye plead with me?
ye all have transgressed against me,
saith the LORD.
³⁰ In vain have I smitten [this] your children;
they received no correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets,
like a destroying lion.
³¹ O generation,
see ye the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness unto Israel?
a land of darkness?
wherefore say my people,
We are lords;
we will come no more unto thee?
³² Can a maid forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³ Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love?
therefore hast thou also taught [this] the wicked ones [this] thy ways.
³⁴ Also in thy skirts
is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents:
I have not found it by secret search,
but upon all these.
³⁵ Yet thou sayest,
Because I am innocent,
surely his anger shall turn from me.
Behold,
I will plead with thee,
because thou sayest,
I have not sinned.
³⁶ Why gaddest thou about so much to change [this] thy way?
thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt,
as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
³⁷ Yea,
thou shalt go forth from him,
and thine hands upon thine head:
for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences,
and thou shalt not prosper in them.