CHAPTER 2
1 And the word of the Lord was made to me, and said,
2 Go thou, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, and say, The Lord saith these things, I had mind on thee, and I had mercy on thee in thy young waxing age, and on the charity of thy espousing, when thou followedest me in desert, in the land which is not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of fruits of him; men that devour that Israel, trespass; evils shall come [up] on them, saith the Lord.
4 The house of Jacob, and all the lineages of the house of Israel, hear ye the word of the Lord.
5 The Lord saith these things, What of wickedness found your fathers in me, for they went far away from me, and went after vanity, and were made vain?
6 And they said not, Where is the Lord, that made us to go up from the land of Egypt, that led us over through desert, by the land unhabitable and without way, by the land of thirst, and by the image of death, by the land in which a man went not, neither a man dwelled.
7 And I brought you into the land of Carmel, that ye should eat the fruit thereof, and the goods thereof; and ye entered, and defouled my land, and setted mine heritage into abomination.
8 Priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held the law, knew not me; and shepherds trespassed against me, and prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols.
9 Therefore yet I shall strive with you in doom, saith the Lord, and I shall dispute with your sons.
10 Go ye to the isles of Chittim, and see ye; and send ye into Kedar, and behold ye greatly; and see ye, if such a thing is done,
11 if a folk changed his gods; and certainly they be no gods; but my people changed his glory into an idol.
12 Heavens, be ye astonied on this thing, and, ye gates of heaven, be ye desolate greatly, saith the Lord.
13 For why my people hath done twain [or two] evils; they have forsaken me, the well of quick water, and have digged to them cisterns, that were destroyed, that may not hold waters.
14 Whether Israel is a bondman, either is born bond? Why therefore is he made into prey?
15 Lions roared on him, and gave their voice; they have set the land of him into wilderness, the cities of him be burnt [up], and none there is that dwelleth in those [or them].
16 Also the sons of Memphis and Tahpanhes have defouled thee, unto the top of the head.
17 Whether this is not done to thee, for thou forsookest thy Lord God, in that time in which he led thee by the way?
18 And now what wilt thou to thee in the way of Egypt, that thou drink troubled water? And what is to thee with the way of Assyrians, that thou drink water of the flood?
19 Thy malice shall reprove thee, and thy turning away shall blame thee; know thou and see, that it is evil and bitter, that thou hast forsaken thy Lord God, and that his dread is not at thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
20 From the world thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast broken my bonds, and saidest, I shall not serve. For thou whore didest whoredom in each high little hill, and under each tree full of boughs.
21 Forsooth I planted thee a chosen vinery [or vine], all true seed; how therefore art thou, an alien vinery [or vine], turned to me into a shrewd thing?
22 Though thou wash thee with fuller’s clay, and multipliest to thee the [cleansing] herb boreth, thou art defouled in thy wickedness before me, saith the Lord God.
23 How sayest thou, I am not defouled, I went not after Baalim? See thy ways in the great valley, know thou what thou hast done; a swift runner ordaining his ways.
24 A wild ass accustomable in wilderness, drew the wind of his love in the desire of his soul; no man shall turn away it. All that seek it, shall not fail; they shall find it in the flux of unclean blood thereof.
25 Forbid thy foot from nakedness, and thy throat from thirst; and thou saidest, I despaired, I shall not do; for I loved burningly alien gods, and I shall go after them.
26 As a thief is shamed, when he is taken, so the house of Israel be shamed; they, and [the] kings of them, the princes, and priests, and the prophets of them,
27 that say to a tree, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast engendered me. They turned to me the back, and not the face; and in the time of their torment they shall say, Rise thou, and deliver us.
28 Where be thy gods, which thou madest to thee? Rise they, and deliver thee in the time of thy torment; for after the number of thy cities were thy gods, thou Judah.
29 What, will ye strive with me in doom? All ye have forsaken me, saith the Lord.
30 In vain I smote your sons, they received not chastising; your sword devoured your prophets, your gener-ation is destroyed as a lion.
31 See ye the word of the Lord, whether I am made a wilderness to Israel, either a land late bringing forth fruit? Why therefore said my people, We have gone away, we shall no more come to thee?
32 Whether a virgin shall forget her ornament? and a spousess her breast-girdle? But my people hath forgotten me by days without number.
33 What enforcest or endeavourest thou to show thy way good to seek love, which furthermore both hast taught thy malices thy ways,
34 and the blood of poor men and innocents is found in thy wings? I found not them in ditches, but in all things which I remembered before.
35 And thou saidest, I am without sin and innocent; and therefore thy strong vengeance be turned away from me. Lo! I shall strive with thee in doom; for thou saidest, I sinned not.
36 How vile art thou made, rehearsing thy ways? and thou shalt be shamed of Egypt, as thou were shamed of Assur.
37 For why and thou shalt go out of this land, and thine hands shall be on thine head; for why the Lord hath all-broken thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing to prosperity.