Israel Forsakes the Lord
1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,
“I remember the devotion of your ayouth,
your love bas a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was choly to the Lord,
the firstfruits of his harvest.
dAll who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the Lord.”
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
e“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and fwent after gworthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the hwilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you idefiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not jknow me;
the kshepherds1 transgressed against me;
the prophets lprophesied by Baal
and went after mthings that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and with your children’s children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are nno gods?
But my people have ochanged their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, pO heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have qforsaken me,
the rfountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14 “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15 sThe lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a twaste;
his cities are in ruins, uwithout inhabitant.
16 Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have shaved2 the crown of your head.
17 Have you not vbrought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
when he led you in the way?
18 wAnd now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?3
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?4
19 Your evil will chastise you,
and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and xbitter
for you to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
20 “For long ago I ybroke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, zon every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down alike a whore.
21 Yet I bplanted you a choice cvine,
wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
and become a dwild vine?
22 Though you wash yourself ewith lye
and use much soap,
the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
23 How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.
25 Keep your ffeet from going unshod
and your throat from gthirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
for I have loved hforeigners,
and after them I will go.’
26 “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their ikings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a jtree, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have kturned their back to me,
and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28 But lwhere are your gods
that you made for yourself?
mLet them arise, if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for nas many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
30 In vain have I struck your children;
they took no ocorrection;
your own sword devoured your pprophets
like a ravening lion.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have qforgotten me
days without number.
33 “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
the rlifeblood of the guiltless poor;
syou did not find them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be put to shame tby Egypt
as you were put to shame uby Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
vwith your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
By Faith, or by Works of the Law?
1 O foolish Galatians! uWho has bewitched you? It was vbefore your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you wreceive the Spirit by works of the law or by xhearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? yHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by1 the flesh? 4 Did you suffer2 so many things zin vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and aworks bmiracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham c“believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that dit is ethose of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that fGod would justify3 the Gentiles by faith, gpreached the gospel hbeforehand to Abraham, saying, i“In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
10 For all who rely on works of the law are junder a curse; for it is written, k“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by lall things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that mno one is justified before God by the law, for n“The righteous shall live by faith.”4 12 But the law is not of faith, rather o“The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ predeemed us from the curse of the law by qbecoming a curse for us—for it is written, r“Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a stree”— 14 tso that in Christ Jesus the ublessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive vthe promised Spirit5 through faith.
The Law and the Promise
15 wTo give a human example, brothers:6 even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now xthe promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, y“And to your offspring,” zwho is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: athe law, which came b430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18 For if the cinheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
19 Why then the law? dIt was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was eput in place through angels fby an gintermediary. 20 Now an hintermediary implies more than one, but iGod is one.
21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then jrighteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture kimprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by lfaith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 Now before faith came, we were held captive munder the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian nuntil Christ came, in order that we might be ojustified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were pbaptized into Christ have qput on Christ. 28 There is rneither Jew nor Greek, there is sneither slave7 nor free, there is tno male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And uif you are vChrist’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
