Jeremiah 2:14-28 - Consequences Of Apostasy
14 Is Israel a servant? has he been a house-servant from birth? why has he been made waste? 15 The young lions have made an outcry against him with a loud voice: they have made his land waste; his towns are burned up, with no one living in them. 16 Even the children of Noph and Tahpanhes have put shame on you. 17 Has not this come on you because you have given up the Lord your God, who was your guide by the way? 18 And now, what have you to do on the way to Egypt, to get your drink from the waters of the Nile? or what have you to do on the way to Assyria, to get your drink from the waters of the River? 19 The evil you yourselves have done will be your punishment, your errors will be your judge: be certain then, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing to give up the Lord your God, and no longer to be moved by fear of me, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.
20 For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman
21 But when you were planted by me, you were a noble vine, in every way a true seed: how then have you been changed into the branching plant of a strange vine?
22 For even if you are washed with soda and take much soap, still your evil-doing is marked before me, says the Lord God. 23 How are you able to say, I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, be clear about what you have done: you are a quick-footed camel twisting her way in and out; 24 An untrained ass, used to the waste land, breathing up the wind in her desire; at her time, who is able to send her away? all those who are looking for her will have no need to make themselves tired; in her month they will get her. 25 Do not let your foot be without shoes, or your throat dry from need of water: but you said, There is no hope: no, for I have been a lover of strange gods, and after them I will go.
26 As the thief is shamed when he is taken, so is Israel shamed; they, their kings and their rulers, their priests and their prophets; 27 Who say to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You have given me life: for their backs have been turned to me, not their faces: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Up! and be our saviour. 28 But where are the gods you have made for yourselves? let them come, if they are able to give you salvation in the time of your trouble: for the number of your gods is as the number of your towns, O Judah.