“How can you say.
‘I am not defiled.
I have not gone after the Baals.’
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
There is a restive young camel
Interlacing her tracks.
There is a wild ass
At home in the wilderness.
In her heat,
It is sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her
Need weary themselves.
In her month,
They will find her.
Keep your feet from going unshod!
Keep your throat from thirst!
But you said.
‘It is hopeless.
I have loved strangers.
After them.
I will go.’”
Jeremiah condemns the Israelites for defiling themselves, even though they deny it. They claim that they have not gone after the Baal pagan gods. However, Jeremiah points out that they know what they have done in the valley. They were like restless camels or a wild ass in the wilderness. They were sniffing at the wind. No one could restrain their lust. It would not be difficult to find them. They should, on the other hand, wear shoes and not be thirsty. Their response was disappointing, since they said that this was hopeless. They loved strangers and ran after them.