Jeremiah 2
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And he said, Thus says the Lord,
2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
I remember the kindness of your youth, and the love of your espousals,
3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her found themselves guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
in following the Holy One of Israel, says the Lord, Israel was the holy [people] to the Lord, [and] the first fruits of his increase: all that devoured him shall offend; evils shall come upon them, says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel.
Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and every family of the house of Israel.
5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me, and followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?
Thus says the Lord, What trespass have your fathers found in me, that they have revolted far from me, and gone after vanities, and become vain?
6 They did not ask, ‘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 pits, a land of drought and darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
And they said not, Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an untried and trackless land, in a land which no man at all went through, and no man lived there?
7 I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but you came and defiled My land, and made My inheritance detestable.
And I brought you to Carmel, that you should eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof; and you went in, and defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.
The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that held by the law knew me not: the shepherds also sinned against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after that which profited not.
9 Therefore, I will contend with you again, declares the LORD, and I will bring a case against your children’s children.
Therefore I will yet plead with you, and will plead with your children's children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and take a look; send to Kedar and consider carefully; see if there has ever been anything like this:
For go to the isles of the Chettians, and se; and send to Kedar, and observe accurately, and see if such things have been done;
11 Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
if the nations will change their gods, though they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory, [for that] from which they shall not be profited.
12 Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,”
The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horror-struck, says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns— broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
For my people has committed two [faults], and evil ones: they have forsaken me, the fountain of water of life, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which will not be able to hold water.
14 Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey?
Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? why has he become a spoil?
15 The young lions have roared at him; they have growled with a loud voice. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
The lions roared upon him, and uttered their voice, which have made his land a wilderness: and his cities are broken down, that they should not be inhabited.
16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.
Also the children of Memphis and Taphnas have known you, and mocked you.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way?
Has not your forsaking me brought these things upon you? says the Lord your God.
18 Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
And now what have you to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the water of Geon? and what have you to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of rivers?
19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,”
Your apostasy shall correct you, and your wickedness shall reprove you: know then, and see, that your forsaking me [has been] bitter to you, says the Lord your God; and I have taken no pleasure in you, says the Lord your God.
20 “For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute.
For of old you have broken your yoke, and plucked asunder your bands; and you has said, I will not serve you, but will go upon every high hill, and under every shady tree, there will I indulge in my fornication.
21 I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, entirely of the right sort: how are you a strange vine turned to bitterness!
22 Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,”
Though you should wash yourself with nitre, and multiply to yourself soap, [still] you are stained by your iniquities before me, says the Lord.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there,
How will you say, I am not polluted, and have not gone after Baal? behold your ways in the burial-ground, and know what you have done: her voice has howled in the evening:
24 a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her.
she has extended her ways over the waters of the desert; she was hurried along by the lusts of her soul; she is given up [to them], who will turn her back? none that seek her shall be weary; at [the time of] her humiliation they shall find her.
25 You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
Withdraw your foot from a rough way, and your throat from thirst: but she said I will strengthen myself: for she loved strangers, and went after them.
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets
As is the shame of a thief when he is caught, so shall the children of Israel be ashamed; they, and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets.
27 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, yet in the time of trouble they beg, ‘Rise up and save us!’
They said to a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You has begotten me: and they have turned [their] backs to me, and not their faces: yet in the time of their afflictions they will say, Arise, and save us.
28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah.
And where are your gods, which you made for yourself? will they arise and save in the time of your affliction? for according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Juda; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem they sacrificed to Baal.
29 Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,”
Therefore do you speak to me? you all have been ungodly, and you all have transgressed against me, says the Lord.
30 “I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”
In vain have I struck your children; you have not received correction: a sword has devoured your prophets as a destroying lion; yet you feared not.
31 You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?
Hear you the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord, Have I been a wilderness or a dry land to Israel? therefore has my people said, We will not be ruled over, and will not come to you any more?
32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
Will a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin her girdle? but my people has forgotten me days without number.
33 How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways.
What fair device will you yet employ in your ways, so as to seek love? [it shall] not [be] so; moreover you has done wickedly in corrupting your ways;
34 Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things
and in your hands has been found the blood of innocent souls; I have not found them in holes, but on every oak.
35 you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Yet you said, I am innocent: only let his wrath be turned away from me. Behold, I [will] plead with you, whereas you say, I have not sinned.
36 How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
For you has been so exceedingly contemptuous as to repeat your ways; but you shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assur.
37 Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
For you shall go forth thence also with your hands upon your head; for the Lord has rejected your hope, and you shall not prosper in it.
