Hear the word of Yahweh, house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel.

Israel [was] holy to Yahweh, the first fruit of his produce. All [those who] ate it were held guilty; disaster came to them," {declares} Yahweh.'"

Thus says Yahweh: "What injustice did your ancestors find in me that they were far from me, and they went after the vanity, and they became vain?

And they did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh, the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt, the one who led us in the desert, in a land of desert plains and gorges, in a land of dryness and deep darkness, in a land {that no one passes through}, and no human lives there?'

And I brought you to the land of the orchard, to eat its fruit, and its good things. But you entered and defiled my land, and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.

The priests did not say, 'Where [is] Yahweh?' and those who handle the law did not know me, and the shepherds have {rebelled against me}, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and they went after [things which] do not profit.

For go over [to] the coasts of Cyprus and look, and send [to] Kedar and consider very closely, and see if there has been [a thing] like this:

{Therefore} I again bring a lawsuit against you," {declares} Yahweh, "and with {your children} I bring a lawsuit.

Be appalled, heavens, at this, and shudder; be utterly desolate," {declares} Yahweh.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, {saying},

Has a nation exchanged gods? And they [are] not gods! But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.

Moreover, people of Memphis and Tahpanhes will {shave} your skull.

Your wickedness will chastise you, and your apostasies will reprove you. Therefore know and see that [it is] evil and bitter, your forsaking of Yahweh, your God, and fear of me [is] not in you," {declares} the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.

"For from long ago you have broken your yoke, you tore to pieces your bonds. And you said, 'I will not serve!' But on every high hill and under every leafy tree you [were] lying down [as] a prostitute.

[Is] Israel a slave? Or {a slave born in a house}? Why has he become plunder?

"Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, {saying}, 'Thus says Yahweh, "I remember [concerning] you the loyal love of your childhood, the love of your betrothal-time, your going after me in the desert, in [the] land not sown.

Yet I planted you [as] a choice vine, all of it a seed of trustworthiness. How then have you altered before me [into something that is] degenerate, the foreign vine?

Did you not do this to yourself, [by] forsaking Yahweh, your God, at the time of your leading in the way?

And now {why do you go} the way of Egypt to drink the waters of the Shihor? And {why do you go} the way of Assyria to drink the waters of the {Euphrates}?

[The] young lions have roared against him, they have {raised} their voices. And they have made his land as horror; his cities are destroyed, {without} an inhabitant.

For if you wash with natron, and you {use much soap}, your guilt [is] sticking as a stain {before} me," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.

Restrain your foot from [being] barefoot, and your throat from thirst. But you said, '[It is] hopeless. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.'

"How can you say, 'I have not defiled myself, I have not gone after the Baals?' Look at your way in the valley, know what you have done. [You are] a young she-camel, interweaving her ways.

A wild ass accustomed to [the] desert, in the desire of her soul. She gasps [for] wind [in] her rutting time. Who can quell her [lust]? All [those who] seek her will not grow weary, in her month they will find her.

As [the] shame of a thief when he is caught in the act, so the house of Israel will be ashamed. They, their kings, their officials, and their priests, and their prophets.

But where [are] your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble. For [according to] the number of your towns are your gods, Judah.

[Those who] say to the tree, 'You [are] my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave birth [to] me.' For they have turned [their] {backs} to me, and not [their] faces. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us.'

Why do you complain to me? All of you have {rebelled against me}," {declares} Yahweh.

"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

Can a young woman forget her ornaments? [Or] a bride her sashes? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

O generation, you see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a desert to Israel? Or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, 'We roam about freely, we will not come again to you'?

Also on your skirts is found [the] blood of [the] life of [the] innocent, [the] poor. You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house. But in spite of all these [things],

How well you do [on] your way to seek love! {Therefore} even [to] the wicked [woman] you can teach your ways.

yet you say, 'But I am innocent, surely his anger has turned away from me.' Look, I [am] entering into judgment with you because of your saying, 'I have not sinned.'

"For {in vain} I have struck your children. They accepted no discipline. Your sword devoured your prophets, like a ravening lion.

How you go about so much changing your way! Also by Egypt you will be put to shame, just as you were put to shame by Assyria.

Also from there you will come out with your hands on your head, for Yahweh has rejected {those in whom you trust}, and you will not prosper through them.