1  Give ear to my words, O Lord;

consider my groaning.

2  Give attention to the sound of my cry,

^jmy King and my God,

for to you do I pray.

3  O Lord, ^kin the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you¹ and watch.

4  For you are ^lnot a God who delights in wickedness;

evil may not dwell with you.

5  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;

you hate all evildoers.

6  You destroy those who speak lies;

the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7  But I, through the ^mabundance of your steadfast love,

will enter your house.

I will bow down ⁿtoward your holy temple

in the fear of you.

8  ^oLead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies;

^pmake your way straight before me.

9  For there is no truth in their mouth;

their inmost self is destruction;

^qtheir throat is an ^ropen grave;

they flatter with their tongue.

10  Make them bear their guilt, O God;

let them fall by their own counsels;

because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,

for they have rebelled against you.

11  But let all who take refuge in you ^srejoice;

let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may ^texult in you.

12  For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

you ^ucover him with favor as with a shield.

“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.”

^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.