"Howcan you say,'I am not defiled,I have not goneafterthe Baals?Lookat your wayin the valley!Knowwhatyou have done!You are a swiftyoungcamelentanglingher ways,
For the Jewsthere was lightand gladnessand joyand honor.
For it flattershim in his [own] eyesConcerning the discoveryof his iniquity[and] the hatred[of it].
"Thesethingsyou have doneand I keptsilence;You thoughtthat I was just likeyou; I will reproveyou and state[the case] in orderbefore your eyes.
He who concealshis transgressionswill not prosper,But he who confessesand forsakes[them] will findcompassion.
There is a kindwho is purein his own eyes,Yet is not washedfrom his filthiness.
Thisis the wayof an adulterouswoman:She eatsand wipesher mouth,And says,"I have donenowrong."
Thussaysthe LORDto thispeople,"Even sothey have lovedto wander;they have not kepttheir feetin check.Therefore the LORDdoes not acceptthem; nowHe will remembertheir iniquityand calltheir sinsto account."
"Now whenyou tellthispeopleallthesewords,they will sayto you, 'For whatreasonhas the LORDdeclaredallthisgreatcalamityagainstus? And whatis our iniquity,or whatis our sinwhichwe have committedagainst the LORDour God?'
"Whydo you goaround somuchChangingyour way?Also,you will be putto shameby EgyptAs you were putto shameby Assyria.
"Liftup your eyesto the bareheightsand see;Wherehave you not been violated?By the roadsyou have satfor them Like an Arabin the desert,And you have polluteda landWith your harlotryand with your wickedness.
"Howlongwill you gohereand there,O faithlessdaughter?For the LORDhas createda newthingin the earth--A womanwill encompassa man."
"They have builtthe highplacesof Topheth,whichis in the valleyof the sonof Hinnom,to burntheir sonsand their daughtersin the fire,whichI did not command,and it did not comeinto My mind.
but have walkedafterthe stubbornnessof their heartand afterthe Baals,as their fatherstaughtthem,"
When the LORDfirstspokethrough Hosea,the LORDsaidto Hosea,"Go,taketo yourself a wifeof harlotryand [have] childrenof harlotry;for the landcommitsflagrantharlotry,forsakingthe LORD."
But wishingto justifyhimself,he saidto Jesus,"And whois my neighbor?"
Nowwe knowthat whateverthe Lawsays,it speaksto thosewho are underthe Law,sothat everymouthmay be closedand allthe worldmay becomeaccountableto God;
