Jeremiah 2:12-27

12Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

13For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

14Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he become a prey?

15The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled: and they have made his land waste; his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.

16The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head.

17Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?

18And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

20For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.

21Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

22For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

23How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

24a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

25Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

27which say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.