Israel’s Unfaithfulness

(Judges 2:10–15; Isaiah 43:22–28)

23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;

I have not run after the Baals’?

Look at your behavior in the valley;

acknowledge what you have done.

You are a swift young she-camel

galloping here and there,

24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness,

sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire.

Who can restrain her passion?

All who seek her need not weary themselves;

in mating season they will find her.

25You should have kept your feet from going bare

and your throat from being thirsty.

But you said, ‘It is hopeless!

For I love foreign gods,

and I must go after them.’

26As the thief is ashamed when he is caught,

so the house of Israel is disgraced.

They, their kings, their officials,

their priests, and their prophets

27say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’

and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have turned their backs to Me

and not their faces,

yet in the time of trouble they beg,

‘Rise up and save us!’

28But where are the gods you made for yourselves?

Let them rise up in your time of trouble

and save you if they can;

for your gods are as numerous

as your cities, O Judah.

29Why do you bring a case against Me?

You have all rebelled against Me,”

declares the LORD.

30“I have struck your sons in vain;

they accepted no discipline.

Your own sword has devoured your prophets

like a voracious lion.”

31You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD:

“Have I been a wilderness to Israel

or a land of dense darkness?

Why do My people say,

‘We are free to roam;

we will come to You no more’?

32Does a maiden forget her jewelry

or a bride her wedding sash?

Yet My people have forgotten Me

for days without number.

33How skillfully you pursue love!

Even the most immoral of women

could learn from your ways.

34Moreover, your skirts are stained

with the blood of the innocent poor,

though you did not find them breaking in.

But in spite of all these things

35you say, ‘I am innocent.

Surely His anger will turn from me.’

Behold, I will judge you,

because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

36How unstable you are,

constantly changing your ways!

You will be disappointed by Egypt

just as you were by Assyria.

37Moreover, you will leave that place

with your hands on your head,

for the LORD has rejected those you trust;

you will not prosper by their help.”