Jeremiah 2:21 — Meaning and Application

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that {it is} an evil {thing} and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear {is} not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

For of old time I have broken thy yoke, {and} burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. {transgress: or, serve}

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, {yet} thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.

How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: {thou art} a swift dromedary traversing her ways; {thou art...: or, O swift dromedary}