2:1 The Lord spoke to me. He said: 2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:1 ‘This is what the Lord says: “I remember for your sake2 how devoted you were to me in your early years.3 I remember how you loved me like a new bride and followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted. 2:3 Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him.4 All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,” says the Lord.’”
The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors
2:4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendants of Jacob,
all you family groups from the nation of Israel.
2:5 This is what the Lord says:
“What possible fault could your ancestors5 have found in me
that they strayed so far from me?6
They paid allegiance to7 worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.8
2:6 They did not ask:
‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,
who brought us through the wilderness,
through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,
through a land of drought and deep darkness,9
through a land in which no one travels,
and where no one lives?’10
2:7 I brought you11 into a fertile land
so you could enjoy12 its fruits and its rich bounty.
But when you entered my land, you defiled it;13
you made the land I call my own14 loathsome to me.
2:8 Your priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’15
Those responsible for teaching my law16 did not really know me.17
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.18
All your leaders worshiped idols that could not help them.19
The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery
2:9 “So, once more I will state my case20 against you,” says the Lord.
“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.21
2:10 For22 go west across the sea to the coasts of Cyprus23 and see.
Send someone east to Kedar24 and have them look carefully.
See if such a thing as this has ever happened:
2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods,
even though they are not really gods at all?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God,25
for a god that cannot help them at all!26
2:12 Be amazed at this, O heavens!27
Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”
says the Lord.
2:13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have left me,
the fountain of life-giving water,28
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”
Israel’s Reliance on Foreign Alliances (not on God)
2:14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?
He was not born into slavery, was he?29
If not, why then has he become something to be carried off?
2:15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;
they raise their voices in triumph.30
They have laid his land waste;
his cities have been burned down and abandoned.31
2:16 Moreover, the soldiers from Memphis and Tahpanhes
have cracked your skulls, people of Israel.32
2:17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel.33
You brought it about by leaving the Lord your God,
even while he was leading you along the way.34
2:18 What good will it do you35 then36 to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians?37
And what good will it do you38 to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians?39
2:19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you.40
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmful41
it was for you to leave me, the Lord your God,42
and to show no respect for me,”43
says the Lord God who rules over all.44
The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry
2:20 “Indeed,45 long ago you threw off my authority
and refused to be subject to me.46
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’47
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls down before her lovers.48
2:21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?49
2:22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”50
says the Lord God.51
2:23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance to52 the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!53
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.54
2:24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.55
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find.56
2:25 Israel, do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry.57
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me!
You cannot, because I love those foreign gods.58
I want to chase after them.’
2:26 A thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught.
So also the people of Israel will suffer dishonor for what they have done.59
And so will their kings and officials,
their priests and their prophets.
2:27 They say to a piece of wood, ‘You are my father.’
They say to a piece of stone, ‘You gave me birth.’60
Yes, they have turned away from me
instead of turning to me.61
Yet when they are in trouble they say,
‘Come and save us!’
2:28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them come and save you, if they really can,
when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is that62 you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah.
2:29 “Why do you try to refute me?63
All of you have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
2:30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
just like a voracious lion would.”64
2:31 You people of this generation,
listen to what the Lord says.
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?65
Why then do you66 say, ‘We are free to wander.67
We will not come to you any more?’
2:32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.
2:33 “My, how good you have become
at chasing after your lovers!68
Why, even the worst of women
could learn from the things you have done!69
2:34 Moreover, your clothes are stained with
the lifeblood of the poor,
who were not guilty of doing anything wrong.
You did not, for example, catch them breaking into your homes.70
Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,71
2:35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong;
so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’
But, watch out!72 I will bring down judgment on you
because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’
2:36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances?73
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria.74
2:37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame.75
That is because the Lord will not let your reliance on them be successful.
You will not gain any help from them.76