The people of God have turned away from Him
1The Lord talked to me and said: 2‘Go and talk to the people of Jerusalem. Everyone in Jerusalem must hear what you say. You must tell them that I say:
“Jerusalem, you were like a bride to Me.
That is how I remember you.
You loved Me when you were young,
when you were my bride.
You walked with me in the desert,
the place where people do not sow wheat.
3People of Israel, you were mine alone.
You were like the first heads_of_wheat,
and I would have punished anyone who ate
any of these heads_of_wheat.” ’
This is what the Lord said. He also said:
4‘Descendants of Jacob,
all the families of Israel,
you must listen to what the Lord says.’
5The Lord asks:
‘What did I do wrong against your forefathers?
Why did they go away from Me?
Why did they follow idols?
Why did you pray to worthless images?
That is why your forefathers
became worthless themselves.
6They did not ask:
“Where is the Lord
who brought us from Egypt?
Where is the Lord who brought us
through the desert?”
It is a dry and very dangerous place,
a place with no water where it is dark,
a place where no one comes
and where no one lives.
7I brought you into a land
with a lot of fruit trees
where you could enjoy eating everything,
but then you made my land impure.
This land belongs to Me,
but you have made it dirty with your sin.
8The priests had to tell the people
what I want but they did not ask
where I was. They did not know Me.
The people who had to rule
over my nation were against Me.
The prophets gave messages from Baal
and they served worthless idols.
9That is why I accuse you again,
you and your descendants.
10I tell you: Go and look in the lands
that are far away,
in the lands of Cyprus and Kedar,
and ask them if something like this
has ever happened there.
11Has there been a nation
that has left its gods?
Has there been a nation
that has chosen other gods,
things that are not_real gods? No.
But my people have left Me, the true God,
and they chose useless images.
12Tell everyone in heaven to fear.
Tell them to be shocked and tremble.
13Because my people have done
2 things that are bad.
They have turned away from Me,
from the Fountain who gives living water.
They have left Me and do not want
to serve Me anymore.
They made water holes for themselves,
holes that can not hold water.
14Are the Israelites slaves?
Are they children of slaves?
Why did other people catch them
and take them away?
15The enemies of the Israelites
were like lions that roar.
They took away the people from their land,
and they destroyed the cities.
There was no one left.
16People of Judah,
the soldiers from the cities of Memphis
and Tahpanhes in Egypt
will also take everything away from your land.
17This will happen
because you have done wrong.
The Lord your God has led you
on your way, but you left Him.
18Now you want to go to Egypt
to drink water from the Nile River,
or you want to go to Assyria
to drink from the Euphrates River.
You want to ask those people to help you,
but they will not help you.
19You have done wrong,
and you were rebellious_against Me.
That is why I will punish you.
You will know and see how bad
and difficult it is after you have left Me,
the Lord your God,
and because you do not respect
and serve Me anymore.’
This is what the Lord, who rules over all, said. 20He says:
‘Yes, you were always like cattle
that broke the yokes and ropes
that I used to hold you.
You said: “We do not want to work
for our owner.”
You have served_idols
on every high hill
and under every green tree.
21I planted you Myself,
and you were a good vine.
But look at how you have changed.
You have become a wild vine
that has bad grapes.
22You can wash yourselves
with the strongest soap,
with a lot of soap,
but I will always see how dirty you are
because you are full of sin.’
This is what the Lord, who is God over all, says:
23‘You say that you
did not make yourselves impure,
and you say you did not follow the Baals.
But look at what you did
in the Hinnom Valley.
You were like a young camel-cow
that wants to mate with a camel-bull,
running from one place to another.
24You were like a wild donkey,
that runs into the desert
and looks for a stallion.
No one can stop her.
It will be easy for a stallion to get her
when it is time for her to mate.
25You walk far looking for idols.
You walk until your shoes are broken.
You become thirsty
on the way to them, but you say:
“It does not_matter.
We love the gods of other nations
and we will follow them.”
26When they catch a thief,
he is ashamed and
he does not know what to do.
That is how it will be
with the Israelites and their kings,
their officials, their priests and their prophets.
27They are people who talk
to a piece of wood or to a rock
and say to it:
“You are my father, and I am your child.”
Yes, they have turned away from Me,
and they have turned their backs to Me,
not their faces.
But when things are going wrong
and they have trouble, then they say:
“Lord, please come and save us.”
28But where are your gods
that you have made for yourselves?
They must come and save you
when things are going wrong
and you have trouble, if they can help.
Because Judah had a lot of gods,
as many as the towns they had.
29Why do you say it is my fault
that you have problems?
You were the ones
who rebelled_against Me.
30I punished your children,
but they did not listen.
You killed your prophets
like lions kill animals.’
31You who are alive must listen
to what the Lord says:
‘Have I been like a desert
or like a dark land to the Israelites?
Why do my people say:
“We have gone away from You,
and we do not want to come back to You”?
32A young girl does not forget her jewellery,
and a bride does not forget her wedding clothes.
But my people have forgotten Me quickly.
33You know how to be unfaithful,
and even prostitutes can learn a lot from you.
34You have killed people
who have not done wrong.
They were poor people who did not steal,
but you have killed them.
35But you say:
“We have done nothing wrong,
and the Lord is not angry with us anymore.”
I want to punish you now
because you said that you have not sinned.
36You ask one nation to help you,
and then you ask other people for help.
But the Assyrians did not help you
and the people from Egypt will also not help you.
37You have sent people to Egypt,
but they will be ashamed
when they come back from Egypt,
because the Lord has turned away
from those people,
and they will not be able to help you.’
