Judah's apostasy was permanent, deliberate and vigorous. They were "clinging" to their sin and defiantly "refusing to return" to God.

Even the migratory birds follow instinctively the creative order of God. But Judah refuses to obey the covenant orders of their loving Jehovah. They do not "know," i.e., love, the orders of the Lord.

"It was an incredible thing that God's covenant people could behave so unnaturally toward their Creator, the sovereign Lord of the covenant." ~ Thompson