31. “O my people, listen to the words of the lord!Have I been like a desert to Israel?Have I been to them a land of darkness?Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God!We don’t need him anymore!’
32. Does a young woman forget her jewelry,or a bride her wedding dress?Yet for years on endmy people have forgotten me.
33. “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers.Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!
34. Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor,though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!
35. And yet you say,‘I have done nothing wrong.Surely God isn’t angry with me!’But now I will punish you severelybecause you claim you have not sinned.
36. First here, then there—you flit from one ally to another asking for help.But your new friends in Egypt will let you down,just as Assyria did before.
37. In despair, you will be led into exilewith your hands on your heads,for the lord has rejected the nations you trust.They will not help you at all.