Jeremiah 2:14-28 - Consequences Of Apostasy
14 "Is Israel a slave, or was he born a servant? Why then has he become plunder? 15 Young lions roar at him, they cry out loudly. They have made his land into a wasteland, and his cities are destroyed so they are without inhabitants. 16 Also, people from Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken your skull. 17 You have done this to yourselves, have you not, by forsaking the LORD your God, when he is the one who led you on the way? 18 Now, what are you doing on the road to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? And what are you doing on the road to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates? 19 Your wickedness will be punished, and you will be corrected due to your acts of apostasy. Know and see that it's evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God, but the fear of me is not in you," declares the Lord GOD of the Heavenly Armies.
20 "For long ago I broke your yoke and tore off your bonds, But you said, "I won't serve you!' Instead, on every high hill and under every green tree, you bend down to commit fornication.
21 I planted you myself as a choice vine, from the very best seed. How did you turn against me into a degenerate and foreign vine?
22 Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me," declares the Lord GOD. 23 "How can you say, "I'm not defiled. I haven't gone after the Baals.'? Look at what you've done in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift young camel galloping aimlessly; 24 a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her passion. When she's in heat, who can turn her away? None of the males who pursue her need to tire themselves out, for in her month they'll find her." 25 "Don't run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you say, "It's hopeless! Because I love foreign gods, I'll go after them!'"
26 "As a thief is disgraced when he's caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, 27 who say to a tree, "You are my father,' and to a stone, "You gave birth to me.' They have turned their back to me, but not their faces. In the time of their trouble, they'll say, "Rise up! Deliver us!'" 28 "But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.