Jeremiah 2:20-30

20For long ago I broke your yoke; I tore off your chains. You insisted, “I will not serve!” On every high hill and under every green tree you lay down like a prostitute.

21I planted you, a choice vine from the very best seed. How then could you turn into a degenerate, foreign vine?

22Even if you wash with lye and use a great amount of bleach, the stain of your iniquity is still in front of me. This is the Lord God’s declaration.

23How can you protest, “I am not defiled; I have not followed the Baals”? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young camel twisting and turning on her way,

24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness. She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can control her passion? All who look for her will not become weary; they will find her in her mating season.

25Keep your feet from going bare and your throat from thirst. But you say, “It’s hopeless; I love strangers, and I will continue to follow them.”

26Like the shame of a thief when he is caught, so the house of Israel has been put to shame. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets

27say to a tree, “You are my father,” and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.” For they have turned their back to me and not their face, yet in their time of disaster they beg, “Rise up and save us!”

28But where are your gods you made for yourself? Let them rise up and save you in your time of disaster if they can, for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.

29Why do you bring a case against me? All of you have rebelled against me. This is the Lord’s declaration.

30I have struck down your children in vain; they would not accept discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a ravaging lion.