The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolat

20 “Indeed, long ago you threw off my authority

and refused to be subject to me.

You said, ‘I will not serve you.’

Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill

and under every green tree,

like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.

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?

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,”

says the Lord God.

23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.

I have not paid allegiance to the gods called Baal.’

Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!

Think about the things you have done there!

You are like a flighty, young female camel

that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.

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.

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.

25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out

and your throats become dry.

But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me

because I love those foreign gods and want to pursue them!’

26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel will suffer dishonor for what they have done.

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

27 They say to a wooden idol, ‘You are my father.’

They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’

Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.

Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them save you when you are in trouble.

The sad fact is that you have as many gods

as you have towns, Judah.

29 “Why do you try to refute me?

All of you have rebelled against me,”

says the Lord.

30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.

They did not respond to such correction.

You slaughtered your prophets

like a voracious lion.”

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?

Why then do you say, ‘We are free to wander.

We will not come to you any more?’

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.

33 “My, how good you have become

at chasing after your lovers!

Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two!

34 Even your clothes are stained with

the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;

you did not catch them breaking into your homes.

Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,

35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong,

so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’

But, watch out! I will bring down judgment on you

because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

36 Why do you constantly go about

changing your political allegiances?

You will get no help from Egypt

just as you got no help from Assyria.

37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt

with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shame

because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful

and you will not gain any help from them.

3 “If a man divorces his wife

and she leaves him and becomes another man’s wife,

he may not take her back again.

Doing that would utterly defile the land.

But you, Israel, have given yourself as a prostitute to many gods.

So what makes you think you can return to me?”

says the Lord.

2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this.

You have had sex with other gods on every one of them.

You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the desert.

You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.

3 That is why the rains have been withheld,

and the spring rains have not come.

Yet in spite of this you are obstinate as a prostitute.

You refuse to be ashamed of what you have done.

4 Even now you say to me, ‘You are my father!

You have been my faithful companion ever since I was young.

5 You will not always be angry with me, will you?

You will not be mad at me forever, will you?’

That is what you say,

but you continually do all the evil that you can.”

6 When Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, you have no doubt seen what wayward Israel has done. You have seen how she went up to every high hill and under every green tree to give herself like a prostitute to other gods. 7 Yet even after she had done all that, I thought that she might come back to me. But she did not. Her sister, unfaithful Judah, saw what she did. 8 She also saw that I gave wayward Israel her divorce papers and sent her away because of her adulterous worship of other gods. Even after her unfaithful sister Judah had seen this, she still was not afraid, and she too went and gave herself like a prostitute to other gods. 9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she defiled the land through her adulterous worship of gods made of wood and stone. 10 In spite of all this, Israel’s sister, unfaithful Judah, has not turned back to me with any sincerity; she has only pretended to do so,” says the Lord. 11 Then the Lord said to me, “Under the circumstances, wayward Israel could even be considered less guilty than unfaithful Judah.