3. Israel, you belonged to me alone;you were my sacred possession.I sent suffering and disasteron everyone who hurt you.I, the Lord, have spoken.”
4. Listen to the Lord's message, you descendants of Jacob, you tribes of Israel.
5. The Lord says:“What accusation did your ancestors bring against me?What made them turn away from me?They worshipped worthless idolsand became worthless themselves.
6. They did not care about me,even though I rescued them from Egyptand led them through the wilderness:a land of deserts and sand dunes,a dry and dangerous landwhere no one livesand no one will even travel.
7. I brought them into a fertile land,to enjoy its harvests and its other good things.But instead they ruined my land;they defiled the country I had given them.
8. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’My own priests did not know me.The rulers rebelled against me;the prophets spoke in the name of Baaland worshipped useless idols.
9. “And so I, the Lord, will state my case against my people again.I will bring charges against their descendants.
10. Go west to the island of Cyprus,and send someone eastwards to the land of Kedar.You will see that nothing like this has ever happened before.
11. No other nation has ever changed its gods,even though they were not real.But my people have exchanged me,the God who has brought them honour,for gods that can do nothing for them.
12. And so I command the sky to shake with horror,to be amazed and astonished,
13. for my people have committed two sins:they have turned away from me,the spring of fresh water,and they have dug cisterns,cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all.
14. “Israel is not a slave;he was not born into slavery.Why then do his enemies hunt him down?
15. They have roared at him like lions;they have made his land a desert,and his towns lie in ruins, completely abandoned.
16. Yes, those of Memphis and Tahpanheshave cracked his skull.
17. Israel, you brought this on yourself!You deserted me, the Lord your God,while I was leading you along the way.
18. What do you think you will gain by going to Egyptto drink water from the Nile?What do you think you will gain by going to Assyriato drink water from the Euphrates?
19. Your own evil will punish you,and your turning from me will condemn you.You will learn how bitter and wrong it isto abandon me, the Lord your God,and no longer to remain faithful to me.I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken.”
20. The Sovereign Lord says,“Israel, long ago you rejected my authority;you refused to obey me and worship me.On every high hilland under every green treeyou worshipped fertility gods.
21. I planted you like a choice vinefrom the very best seed.But look what you have become!You are like a rotten, worthless vine.
22. Even if you washed with the strongest soap,I would still see the stain of your guilt.
23. How can you say you have not defiled yourself,that you have never worshipped Baal?Look how you sinned in the valley;see what you have done.You are like a wild camel on heat,running about loose,