My people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth unto them; for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them to err, and they have played the harlot, {\i departing} from under their God.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.
Hear the word of Jehovah, ye children of Israel; for Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.\par
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah.\par
And might not be as their fathers,\par\tab A stubborn and rebellious generation,\par\tab A generation that set not their heart aright,\par\tab And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
I will not punish your daughters when they play the harlot, nor your brides when they commit adultery; for {\i the men} themselves go apart with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; and the people that doth not understand shall be overthrown.\par
The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.