Jeremiah 2
10 Ref For go over to the sea-lands of Kittim and see; send to Kedar and give deep thought to it; and see if there has ever been such a thing.
11 Ref Has any nation ever made a change in their gods, though they are no gods? but my people have given up their glory in exchange for what is of no profit.
12 Ref Be full of wonder, O heavens, at this; be overcome with fear, be completely waste, says the Lord.
13 Ref For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
14 Ref Is Israel a servant? has he been a house-servant from birth? why has he been made waste?
15 Ref The young lions have made an outcry against him with a loud voice: they have made his land waste; his towns are burned up, with no one living in them.
16 Ref Even the children of Noph and Tahpanhes have put shame on you.
17 Ref Has not this come on you because you have given up the Lord your God, who was your guide by the way?
18 Ref And now, what have you to do on the way to Egypt, to get your drink from the waters of the Nile? or what have you to do on the way to Assyria, to get your drink from the waters of the River?
19 Ref The evil you yourselves have done will be your punishment, your errors will be your judge: be certain then, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing to give up the Lord your God, and no longer to be moved by fear of me, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.
20 Ref For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman
21 Ref But when you were planted by me, you were a noble vine, in every way a true seed: how then have you been changed into the branching plant of a strange vine?
22 Ref For even if you are washed with soda and take much soap, still your evil-doing is marked before me, says the Lord God.
23 Ref How are you able to say, I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, be clear about what you have done: you are a quick-footed camel twisting her way in and out;
24 Ref An untrained ass, used to the waste land, breathing up the wind in her desire; at her time, who is able to send her away? all those who are looking for her will have no need to make themselves tired; in her month they will get her.
25 Ref Do not let your foot be without shoes, or your throat dry from need of water: but you said, There is no hope: no, for I have been a lover of strange gods, and after them I will go.
26 Ref As the thief is shamed when he is taken, so is Israel shamed; they, their kings and their rulers, their priests and their prophets;
27 Ref Who say to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You have given me life: for their backs have been turned to me, not their faces: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Up! and be our saviour.
28 Ref But where are the gods you have made for yourselves? let them come, if they are able to give you salvation in the time of your trouble: for the number of your gods is as the number of your towns, O Judah.