12-13. “Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see!Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can’t be!”God’s Decree.“My people have committed a compound sin:they’ve walked out on me, the fountainOf fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.
14-17. “Isn’t Israel a valued servant,born into a family with place and position?So how did she end up a piece of meatfought over by snarling and roaring lions?There’s nothing left of her but a few old bones,her towns trashed and deserted.Egyptians from the cities of Memphis and Tahpanheshave broken your skulls.And why do you think all this has happened?Isn’t it because you walked out on your Godjust as he was beginning to lead you in the right way?
18-19. “And now, what do you think you’ll get by going off to Egypt?Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water?Or what do you think you’ll get by going off to Assyria?Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water?Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that’s what you’ll get.You’ll pay dearly for your disloyal ways.Take a long, hard look at what you’ve done and its bitter results.Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?”God’s Decree, Master God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
20-22. “A long time ago you broke out of the harness.You shook off all restraints.You said, ‘I will not serve!’and off you went,Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,like a common whore.You were a select vine when I planted youfrom completely reliable stock.And look how you’ve turned out—a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.Scrub, using the strongest soaps.Scour your skin raw.The sin-grease won’t come out. I can’t stand to even look at you!”God’s Decree, the Master’s Decree.
23-24. “How dare you tell me, ‘I’m not stained by sin.I’ve never chased after the Baal sex gods’!Well, look at the tracks you’ve left behind in the valley.How do you account for what is written in the desert dust—Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,tracks of a wild donkey in rut,Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.Who could possibly corral her!On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.
25. “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry?Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?But you say, ‘I can’t help it.I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.’
26-28. “Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught,so the people of Israel are chagrined,Caught along with their kings and princes,their priests and prophets.They walk up to a tree and say, ‘My father!’They pick up a stone and say, ‘My mother! You bore me!’All I ever see of them is their backsides.They never look me in the face.But when things go badly, they don’t hesitate to come running,calling out, ‘Get a move on! Save us!’Why not go to your handcrafted gods you’re so fond of?Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times.You’ve got more gods, Judah,than you know what to do with.
29-30. “What do you have against me,running off to assert your ‘independence’?”God’s Decree.“I’ve wasted my time trying to train your children.They’ve paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline.And you’ve gotten rid of your God-messengers,treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.