| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1The LORD gave me another message. He said, | 1Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, |
| 2“Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the LORD says: “I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness. | 2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. |
| 3In those days Israel was holy to the LORD, the first of his children. All who harmed his people were declared guilty, and disaster fell on them. I, the LORD, have spoken!” | 3Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her found themselves guilty; disaster came upon them,’ ” declares the LORD. |
| 4Listen to the word of the LORD, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel! | 4Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel. |
| 5This is what the LORD says: “What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves. | 5This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves? |
| 6They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness— a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?’ | 6They 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?’ |
| 7“And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you. | 7I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable. |
| 8The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who taught my word ignored me, the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, wasting their time on worthless idols. | 8The 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. |
| 9Therefore, I will bring my case against you,” says the LORD. “I will even bring charges against your children’s children in the years to come. | 9Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children. |
| 10“Go west and look in the land of Cyprus ; go east and search through the land of Kedar. Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this? | 10Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this: |
| 11Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! | 11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. |
| 12The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the LORD. | 12Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. |
| 13“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! The Results of Israel’s Sin | 13“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. |
| 14“Why has Israel become a slave? Why has he been carried away as plunder? | 14Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey? |
| 15Strong lions have roared against him, and the land has been destroyed. The towns are now in ruins, and no one lives in them anymore. | 15The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant. |
| 16Egyptians, marching from their cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes, have destroyed Israel’s glory and power. | 16The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. |
| 17And you have brought this upon yourselves by rebelling against the LORD your God, even though he was leading you on the way! | 17Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? |
| 18“What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and your covenants with Assyria? What good to you are the streams of the Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River? | 18Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? |
| 19Your wickedness will bring its own punishment. Your turning from me will shame you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the LORD your God and not to fear him. I, the Lord, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken! | 19Your 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. |
| 20“Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you said, ‘I will not serve you.’ On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols. | 20“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. |
| 21But I was the one who planted you, choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine? | 21I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine? |
| 22No amount of soap or lye can make you clean. I still see the stain of your guilt. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken! Israel, an Unfaithful Wife | 22Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. |
| 23“You say, ‘That’s not true! I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’ But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel desperately searching for a mate. | 23“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, |
| 24You are like a wild donkey, sniffing the wind at mating time. Who can restrain her lust? Those who desire her don’t need to search, for she goes running to them! | 24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her. |
| 25When will you stop running? When will you stop panting after other gods? But you say, ‘Save your breath. I’m in love with these foreign gods, and I can’t stop loving them now!’ | 25You 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.’ |
| 26“Israel is like a thief who feels shame only when he gets caught. They, their kings, officials, priests, and prophets— all are alike in this. | 26As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets |
| 27To an image carved from a piece of wood they say, ‘You are my father.’ To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say, ‘You are my mother.’ They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me, ‘Come and save us!’ | 27say 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!’ |
| 28But why not call on these gods you have made? When trouble comes, let them save you if they can! For you have as many gods as there are towns in Judah. | 28But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah. |
| 29Why do you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled,” says the LORD. | 29Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD. |
| 30“I have punished your children, but they did not respond to my discipline. You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey. | 30“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.” |
| 31“O my people, listen to the words of the LORD! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’ | 31You 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’? |
| 32Does a young woman forget her jewelry, or a bride her wedding dress? Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me. | 32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. |
| 33“How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you! | 33How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. |
| 34Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor, though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses! | 34Moreover, 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 |
| 35And yet you say, ‘I have done nothing wrong. Surely God isn’t angry with me!’ But now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned. | 35you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ |
| 36First here, then there— you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before. | 36How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria. |
| 37In despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the LORD has rejected the nations you trust. They will not help you at all. | 37Moreover, 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.” |
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