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¹⁵The young lions have roared upon him,

And let their voice resound;

And they have made his land desolate,

His cities are laid waste,

Without inhabitant.

¹⁶The children also of Noph and Tahpanhes

Feed upon the crown of thy head.

¹⁷Is it not this that doth cause it unto thee,

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 and a bitter thing,

That thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God,

Neither is My fear in thee,

Saith the Lord God of hosts.

 

²⁰For of old time I have broken thy yoke,

And burst thy bands,

And thou saidst: 'I will not transgress';

Upon every high hill

And under every leafy tree

Thou didst recline, 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 nitre,

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 young camel traversing her ways;

²⁴A wild ass used to the wilderness,

That snuffeth up the wind in her desire;

Her lust, who can hinder it?

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;

²⁷Who say to a stock: 'Thou art my father',

And to a stone: 'Thou hast brought us 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.'

²⁸But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee?

Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble;

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