< Jeremiah 2 >
1 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come upon them, says Jehovah.
4 Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says Jehovah: What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain?
6 Nor did they say, Where is Jehovah who brought us up out of 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 shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it. But when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, Where is Jehovah? And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. And the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will yet contend with you, says Jehovah, and I will contend with your son's sons.
10 For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see, and send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be ye very desolate, says Jehovah.
13 For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? Is he a homebred one? Why has he become a prey?
15 The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled, and they have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
16 The sons also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head.
17 Have thou not procured this to thyself, in that thou have forsaken Jehovah thy God when he led thee by the way?
18 And now what have thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou have forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
20 For from old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds. And thou said, I will not serve, for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou bowed thyself, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
22 For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, says the lord Jehovah.
23 How can thou say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baalim? See thy way in the valley. Know what thou have done, a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs up the wind in her desire. In her time of estrus who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou said, It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.
26 As the thief is shamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel shamed, they, their kings, their rulers, and their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a block of wood, Thou are my father, and to a stone, Thou have brought me forth. For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.
28 But where are thy gods that thou have made thee? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble. For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
29 Why will ye contend with me? Ye have all transgressed against me, says Jehovah.
30 In vain I have smitten your sons. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness? Why do my people say, We have broken loose. We will come no more to thee?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33 How thou trim thy way to seek love! Therefore even the wicked women thou have taught thy ways.
34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor. Thou did not find them breaking in. But it is because of all these things.
35 Yet thou said, I am innocent. Surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee because thou say, I have not sinned.
36 Why do thou gad about so much to change thy way? Thou shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou were ashamed of Assyria.
37 Thou shall also go forth from there with thy hands upon thy head. For Jehovah has rejected those in whom thou trust. And thou shall not prosper with them.
