2:1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
2:2 `Go, and thou hast called in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus said Jehovah: I have remembered for thee The kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, Thy going after Me in a wilderness, in a land not sown.
2:3 Holy [is] Israel to Jehovah, The first-fruit of His increase, All consuming him are guilty, Evil cometh in unto them, an affirmation of Jehovah.
2:4 Hear a word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, And all ye families of the house of Israel.
2:5 Thus said Jehovah: What -- have your fathers found in Me perversity, That they have gone far off from Me, And go after the vanity, and become vain,
2:6 And have not said, Where [is] Jehovah, Who bringeth us up out of the land of Egypt, Who leadeth us in a wilderness, In a land of deserts and pits, In a dryland, and of death- shade, In a land -- none hath passed through it, Nor dwelt hath man there?'
2:7 Yea, I bring you in to a land of fruitful fields, To eat its fruit and its goodness, And ye come in and defile My land, And Mine inheritance have made an abomination.
2:8 The priests have not said, `Where [is] Jehovah?' And those handling the law have not known Me. And the shepherds transgressed against Me, And the prophets have prophesied by Baal, And after those who profit not have gone.
2:9 Therefore, yet I plead with you, An affirmation of Jehovah, And with your sons' sons I plead.
2:10 For, pass to the isles of Chittim, and see, And to Kedar send, and consider well, And see if there hath been like this:
2:11 Hath a nation changed gods? (And they [are] no gods!) And My people hath changed its honour For that which doth not profit.
2:12 Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, Yea, be frightened, be greatly wasted, An affirmation of Jehovah.
2:13 For two evils hath My people done, Me they have forsaken, a fountain of living waters, To hew out for themselves wells -- broken wells, That contain not the waters.
2:14 A servant [is] Israel? Is he a child of the house? Wherefore hath he been for a prey?
2:15 Against him roar do young lions, They have given forth their voice, And make his land become a desolation, His cities have been burnt without inhabitant.
2:16 Also sons of Noph and Tahapanes Consume thee -- the crown of the head!
2:17 Dost thou not do this to thyself? [By] thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, At the time He is leading thee in the way?
2:18 And now, what -- to thee in the way of Egypt, To drink the waters of Sihor? And what -- to thee in the way of Asshur, To drink the waters of the River?
2:19 Instruct thee doth thy wickedness, And thy backslidings reprove thee, Know and see that an evil and a bitter thing [Is] thy forsaking Jehovah thy God, And My fear not being on thee, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts.
2:20 For from of old thou hast broken thy yoke, Drawn away thy bands, and sayest, `I do not serve,' For, on every high height, and under every greentree, Thou art wandering -- a harlot.
2:21 And I planted thee a choice vine, wholly a true seed, And how hast thou been turned to Me, To the degenerate shoots of a strange vine?
2:22 But though thou dost wash with nitre, And dost multiply to thyself soap, Marked is thine iniquity before Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
2:23 How sayest thou, `I have not been defiled, After the Baalim I have not gone?' See thy way in a valley, know what thou hast done, A swift dromedary winding her ways,
2:24 A wild ass accustomed to a wilderness, In the desire of her soul she hath swallowed up wind, Her meeting -- who doth turn her back? None seeking her do weary themselves, In her month they find her.
2:25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst, And thou sayest, `It is incurable, No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I go.'
2:26 As the shame of a thief when he is found, So put to shame have been the house of Israel, They, their kings, their heads, And their priests, and their prophets,
2:27 Saying to wood, `My father [art] thou!' And to a stone, `Thou hast brought me forth,' For they turned unto me the back and not the face, And in the time of their vexation, They say, `Arise Thou, and save us.'
2:28 And where [are] thy gods, that thou hast made to thyself? Let them arise, if they may save thee, In the time of thy vexation, For -- the number of thy cities have been thy gods, O Judah,
2:29 Why do ye strive with Me? All of you have transgressed against Me, An affirmation of Jehovah.
2:30 In vain I have smitten your sons, Instruction they have not accepted, Devoured hath your sword your prophets, As a destroying lion.
2:31 O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah: A wilderness have I been to Israel? A land of thick darkness? Wherefore have My people said, `We mourned, We come not in again unto Thee.'
2:32 Doth a virgin forget her ornaments? A bride her bands? And My people have forgotten Me days without number.
2:33 What -- dost thou make pleasing thy ways to seek love? Therefore even the wicked thou hast taught thy ways.
2:34 Also in thy skirts hath been found the blood of innocent needy souls, Not by digging have I found them, but upon all these.
2:35 And thou sayest, `Because I have been innocent, Surely turned back hath His anger from me?' Lo, I have been judged with thee, Because of thy saying, `I have not sinned.'
2:36 What? thou art very vile to repeat thy way, Even of Egypt thou art ashamed, As thou hast been ashamed of Asshur,
2:37 Also from this thou goest out, And thy hands on thy head, For Jehovah hath kicked at thy confidences, And thou dost not give prosperity to them!
