I foundIsraellike grapesin the wilderness;I sawyour forefathersas the earliestfruiton the figtreein its first[season]. [But] they cameto Baal-peorand devotedthemselves to shame,And they becameas detestableas that whichthey loved.
I will not punishyour daughterswhenthey playthe harlotOr your brideswhenthey commitadultery,For [the men] themselvesgoapartwith harlotsAnd offersacrificeswith templeprostitutes;So the peoplewithoutunderstandingare ruined.
"For your godsare as manyas your cities,O Judah;and as manyas the streetsof Jerusalemare the altarsyou have setup to the shamefulthing,altarsto burnincenseto Baal.
Woeis me! For I amLike the fruitpickers,like the grapegatherers.Thereis not a clusterof grapes to eat,[Or] a first-ripefig[which] I crave.
"Then I will giveher her vineyardsfrom there,And the valleyof Achoras a doorof hope.And she will singthereas in the daysof her youth,As in the daywhen she cameup from the landof Egypt.
"But they rebelledagainst Me and were not willingto listento Me; they did not castawaythe detestablethingsof their eyes,nordid they forsakethe idolsof Egypt.Then I resolvedto pourout My wrathon them, to accomplishMy angeragainst them in the midstof the landof Egypt.
"Offera thankofferingalso from that whichis leavened,And proclaimfreewillofferings,makethem known.For soyou love[to do], you sonsof Israel,"Declaresthe LordGOD.
WhenIsrael[was] a youthI lovedhim, And out of EgyptI calledMy son.
Thussaysthe LORD,"The peoplewhosurvivedthe swordFoundgracein the wilderness--Israel,when it wentto findits rest."
The prophetsprophesyfalsely,And the priestsruleon their [own] authority;And My peopleloveit so!But whatwill you doat the endof it?
And the fadingflowerof its gloriousbeauty,Whichis at the headof the fertilevalley,Will be like the first-ripefigpriorto summer,Whichone sees,[And] as soonas it is in his hand,He swallowsit.
"So I gavethem overto the stubbornnessof their heart,To walkin their own devices.
It cameabout, as though it had been a trivialthingfor him to walkin the sinsof Jeroboamthe sonof Nebat,that he marriedJezebelthe daughterof Ethbaalkingof the Sidonians,and wentto serveBaaland worshipedhim.
Therefore on that dayhe namedhim Jerubbaal,that is to say,"Let Baalcontendagainst him," becausehe had torndownhis altar.
"They sacrificedto demonswho were not God,To godswhom they have not known,New[gods] who camelately,Whom your fathersdid not dread.
"He foundhim in a desertland,And in the howlingwasteof a wilderness;He encircledhim, He caredfor him, He guardedhim as the pupilof His eye.
"Your eyeshave seenwhatthe LORDhas donein the case of Baal-peor,for allthe menwhofollowedBaal-peor,the LORDyour Godhas destroyedthem from amongyou.
"It shall be a tasselfor you to lookat and rememberallthe commandmentsof the LORD,so as to dothem and not followafteryour own heartand your own eyes,afterwhichyou playedthe harlot,
Thereforewhatbenefitwere you thenderivingfrom the things of whichyou are nowashamed?For the outcomeof those thingsis death.
Those who makethem will becomelikethem, Everyonewhotrustsin them.
"But the shamefulthinghas consumedthe laborof our fatherssinceour youth,their flocksand their herds,their sonsand their daughters.
Onebaskethad verygoodfigs,like first-ripefigs,and the otherbaskethad verybadfigswhichcould not be eatendueto rottenness.
Their liquorgone,They playthe harlotcontinually;Their rulersdearlyloveshame.
"The firstripefruitsof allthat is in their land,whichthey bringto the LORD,shall be yours; everyoneof your householdwho is cleanmay eatit.
and therethey burnedincenseon allthe highplacesas the nations[did] whichthe LORDhad carriedawayto exilebeforethem; and they didevilthingsprovokingthe LORD.
"Whatis thiscomingup from the wildernessLike columnsof smoke,Perfumedwith myrrhand frankincense,With allscentedpowdersof the merchant?
"Let us liedownin our shame,and let our humiliationcoverus; for we have sinnedagainst the LORDour God,we and our fathers,from our youtheven to thisday.And we have not obeyedthe voiceof the LORDour God."
I caredfor you in the wilderness,In the landof drought.
