Lexicon :: Strong's H3808 - lō'

“They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD

Who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

Who led us through the wilderness,

Through a land of deserts and of pits,

Through a land of drought and of the deep darkness [of the shadow of death],

Through a land that no man passed through

And where no man lived?’

“[Even] the priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’

And those who deal with the law [given to Moses] did not know Me.

The rulers and shepherds also transgressed against Me,

And the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] Baal

And walked after [idolatrous] things that did not benefit [them].

“Has a nation [ever] changed gods

Even though they were not gods [but merely man-made objects]?

But My people have exchanged their Glory (the true God)

For that [man-made idol] which does not benefit [them].

“For My people have committed two evils:

They have abandoned (rejected) Me,

The fountain of living water,

And they have carved out their own cisterns,

Broken cisterns

That cannot hold water.

“Have you not brought this on yourself

By abandoning (rejecting) the LORD your God

When He led you in the way?

“Your own wickedness will discipline you,

And your desertion of the faith will punish you.

Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing

For you to abandon (reject) the LORD your God,

And for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss the [reverent] fear of Me,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.

“For long ago you broke your yoke [in deliberate disobedience]

And tore off your bonds [of the law that I gave you];

You said, ‘I will not serve and obey You!’

For on every high hill

And under every green tree

You have lain down [in idolatrous worship] like a [compliant] prostitute.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,

I have not gone after [man-made gods like] the Baals’?

Look at your way in the valley;

Know [without any doubt] what you have done!

You are a swift and restless young [female] camel [in the heat of her passion] running here and there,

Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,

That sniffs the wind in her passion [for the scent of a mate].

In her mating season who can restrain her?

No males seeking her need to weary themselves;

In her month they will find her [looking for them].

“[Cease your mad running after idols to]

Keep your feet from becoming bare

And your throat from becoming dry;

But you said, ‘It is hopeless!

For I have loved strangers and foreign gods,

And I will walk after them.’

Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’

And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’

For they have turned their backs to Me,

And not their faces;

But in the time of their trouble they will say,

‘Arise [O LORD] and save us.’

“In vain I have punished your people [with the consequences of their disobedience];

They received no insight from correction [and refused to change].

Your [own] sword has devoured your prophets

Like a destroying lion.

“O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the LORD.

Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food],

A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]?

Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will];

We will no longer come to You’?

“Also on your skirts is found

The lifeblood of the innocent poor;

You did not find them breaking in [a house].

But in spite of all these things [your disobedience, your love of idolatry, your lack of compassion]—

Yet you keep saying, ‘I am innocent;

Surely His anger has turned away from me.’

Behold (listen very carefully), I will bring you to judgment and will plead my case against you

Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’

“From Egypt also you will come away [as captives]

With your hands on your head;

For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust (confide),

And you will not be successful with them.”

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;

Where have you not been violated?

You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]

Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,

And you have desecrated the land

With your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

“Therefore the showers have been withheld,

And there has been no spring rain.

Yet you have the forehead (appearance) of a prostitute;

You refuse to be ashamed.

“Will you not just now call out to Me,

‘My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?

‘Return, faithless Israel,’ says the LORD;

‘I will not [fn]look on you in anger.

For I am gracious and merciful,’ says the LORD;

‘I will not be angry forever.

‘Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt,

That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the LORD your God

And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,

And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the LORD.

“Then I said,

‘How [gloriously and honorably] I would set you among My children

And give you a pleasant land—a wonderful heritage,

The most beautiful inheritance of the nations!’

And I said, ‘You shall call Me, My Father

And not turn away from following Me.’

“For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning],

Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail,

For the fierce anger of the LORD

Has not turned back from us.”

In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]

My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!

My heart is pounding and throbbing within me;

I cannot be silent,

For you have heard, O my soul,

The sound of the trumpet,

The alarm of war.

“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the LORD to Jeremiah];

“They do not know Me;

They are foolish children

And have no understanding.

They are shrewd [enough] to do evil,

But they do not know [how] to do good.”

Therefore says the LORD,

“The whole land shall be a desolation,

Yet I will not cause total destruction.

“For this reason the earth shall mourn

And the heavens above shall become dark,

Because I have spoken, I have decided,

And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it.”

Then I said, “[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated);

They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding,

For they do not know the way of the LORD

Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].

“Why should I [overlook these offenses and] forgive you?

Your children have abandoned (rejected) Me

And sworn [their oaths] by those who are not gods.

When I had fed them until they were full [and bound them to Me by a promise],

They committed [spiritual] adultery,

Assembling in troops at the houses of prostitutes (idols).

“Shall I not punish them [for these things]?” says the LORD;

“Shall I not avenge Myself

On a nation such as this?”

“Go up through the rows of Jerusalem’s vineyards and destroy [them],

But do not completely destroy everything.

Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines],

For they are not the LORD’S.

They have lied about and denied the LORD

By saying, “It is not He [who speaks through His prophets];

Misfortune and evil shall not come on us,

Nor will we see war or famine.

“Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from far away, O house of Israel,” says the LORD.

“It is a mighty and enduring nation,

It is an ancient nation,

A nation whose language you do not know,

Whose words you do not comprehend.

“But even in those days,” says the LORD, “I will not totally destroy you.

‘Now hear this, O foolish people without heart,

Who have eyes but do not see,

Who have ears but do not hear.

‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the LORD.

‘Do you not tremble [in awe] in My presence?

For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,

An eternal decree and a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass.

Though the waves [of the sea] toss and break, yet they cannot prevail [against the sand ordained to hold them back];

Though the waves and the billows roar, yet they cannot cross over [the barrier].

[Is not such a God to be feared?]