12. Be appalled, O heavens, at this;be shocked, be utterly desolate,declares the Lord,
13. for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,the fountain of living waters,and hewed out cisterns for themselves,broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14. “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?Why then has he become a prey?
15. The lions have roared against him;they have roared loudly.They have made his land a waste;his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
16. Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.
17. Have you not brought this upon yourselfby forsaking the Lord your God,when he led you in the way?
18. And now what do you gain by going to Egyptto drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyriato drink the waters of the Euphrates?
19. Your evil will chastise you,and your apostasy will reprove you.Know and see that it is evil and bitterfor you 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 broke your yokeand burst your bonds;but you said, ‘I will not serve.’Yes, on every high hilland under every green treeyou bowed down like a whore.
21. Yet I planted you a choice vine,wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerateand become a wild vine?
22. Though you wash yourself with lyeand use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,declares the Lord God.
23. How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,I have not gone after the Baals’?Look at your way in the valley;know what you have done—a restless young camel running here and there,
24. a 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 your feet from going unshodand your throat from thirst.But you said, ‘It is hopeless, for 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: they, 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 in the time of their trouble they say,‘Arise and save us!’
28. But where are your godsthat you made for yourself?Let them arise, if they can save you,in your time of trouble;for as many as your citiesare 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 struck your children;they took no correction; your own sword devoured your prophetslike a ravening lion.