1Yahweh gave me another message
2to proclaim to everyone in Jerusalem. He said that I should tell them this [MET]:
3At that time you Israelis ◄were set apart/belonged only► to me;
4So, you descendants of [MTY] Jacob, all you people of [MTY] Israel,
5listen to what Yahweh says:
6They did not say, ‘Yahweh brought us safely out of Egypt,
7And when I brought you into a very fertile land,
8Your priests also did not say,
9“So, I will accuse you in court.
10If you go west to the island of Cyprus,
11The people of no other nation have ever [RHQ] abandoned their gods that they thought were glorious
12It is as though everything in the sky is surprised and dismayed/appalled about what you have done;
13You, my people, have done two evil things:
14You Israeli people, you were certainly not [RHQ] slaves when you were born;
15Your enemies [MET] roared like lions,
16Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, cities in Egypt, have defeated you
17But it is [RHQ] because you abandoned me, Yahweh,
18So ◄why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Egypt?/it certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Egypt► [RHQ].
19It is because you have been very wicked that I [PRS] will punish you.
20Long ago, you stopped obeying me [MET], and you would not allow me to lead you [MET];
21It is as though [MET] you were a grapevine that I planted
22Your guilt from your sins is like [MET] very bad stains on a cloth,
23You say that you have not sinned.
24You are like wild female donkeys in the desert.
25You constantly run here and there to find idols to worship, with the result that your sandals are worn out,
26Yahweh says this:
27You say to a piece of wood that is carved to become a sacred idol, ‘You are our father!’
28Why do you not [RHQ] cry out to the gods that you made?
29You complain that it was wrong for me not to have rescued you,
30I punished some of you,
31You people of Israel, pay attention to what I say.
32A young woman would certainly never [RHQ] forget to wear her jewelry,
33You know how to easily find gods from other countries whom you can love.
34Although you have on your clothes the blood of poor people whom you have murdered,
35you say ‘We have not done anything that is wrong;
36Previously you requested the army of Assyria to help you,
37They will capture you, and you will be their prisoners [MTY],