God

They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’

I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.

The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.

Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.

Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD.

“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns— broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?

Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.

“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.

I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?

Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,

You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’

say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’

Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”

You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?

Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.

Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things

you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”

“If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers— and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.

Have you not just called to Me, ‘My Father, You are my friend from youth.

Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ This you have spoken, but you keep doing all the evil you can.”