Jeremiah 2
1 The Lord's message came to me, saying,
And he said, Thus says the Lord,
2 Go and announce to the people of Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: I remember when you were young how devoted to me you were. I remember how you loved me when you were my bride. I remember how you followed me in the desert, in a land where nothing is grown.
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. Anyone who ate this harvest was guilty of sin, and they experienced the disastrous results, 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 Listen to the Lord's message, descendants of Jacob, all you Israelites.
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 did your forefathers think was wrong with me that they went so far away from me? They went off to worship useless idols, and as a result became useless 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 didn't ask themselves, “Where is the Lord who led us from Egypt, who led us through the wasteland, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and darkness, a land that no one travels through and where 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 led you into a productive land to eat all the good things that grow there. But you came and made my land unclean, making it offensive to me.
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 Your priests did not ask, “Where is the Lord?” Your teachers of the law no longer believed in me, and your leaders rebelled against me. Your prophets prophesied by calling on Baal and followed worthless 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 So I'm going to confront you again, declares the Lord, and I will bring charges against your children's children.
Therefore I will yet plead with you, and will plead with your children's children.
10 Travel over to the islands of Cyprus and take a look; go to the land of Kedar and examine carefully to see if anything like this has ever happened before.
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? —even though they're not gods at all! Yet my people have traded their glorious God for worthless 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 You heavens, you should be appalled, shocked and horrified! declares the Lord.
The heaven is amazed at this, and is very exceedingly horror-struck, says the Lord.
13 For my people have done two evil things. They have abandoned me, the source of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that can't 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 Are Israelites slaves? Were they born into slavery? So why have they become victims?
Is Israel a servant, or a home-born slave? why has he become a spoil?
15 The young lions roared at you; they growled loudly. They have devastated your country; your towns lie in ruins. No one lives there.
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 your heads.
Also the children of Memphis and Taphnas have known you, and mocked you.
17 Didn't you bring this on yourself by abandoning the Lord your God when he was leading you in the right way?
Has not your forsaking me brought these things upon you? says the Lord your God.
18 Now what will you benefit as you travel back to Egypt to drink the waters of Shihor River? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
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 wickedness will discipline you; your own disobedience will teach you a lesson. Think about it and you'll recognize what a bitter evil it is for you to abandon the Lord your God and not to respect me, declares the Lord God Almighty.
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 You broke off your yoke and ripped off your chains long ago. “I won't worship you!” you declared. On the contrary, you lay down like a prostitute on every high hill and under every green tree.
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 was the one who planted you like the finest vine, grown from the very best seed. How could you degenerate into a useless wild vine?
Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, entirely of the right sort: how are you a strange vine turned to bitterness!
22 Even bleach and plenty of soap can't get rid of your guilty stains. I still see them, declares the Lord God.
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 dare you say, “I'm not unclean! I haven't gone to worship the Baals!” Look at what you've been doing down in the valley. Admit what you've done! You're a young female camel, racing around everywhere.
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 You're a female donkey living in the desert, sniffing the wind for a mate because she's in heat. No one can control her at mating time. All those who're looking for her won't have trouble finding her when she's in heat.
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 don't have to run around barefoot or have your throat go dry. But you reply, “No, it's impossible! I'm in love with foreign gods—I must go to 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 In the same way that a thief feels guilty when they're caught, so the people of Israel have been shamed. All of them—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 They say to an idol made of wood, “You are my father,” and one made of stone, “You gave birth to me.” They turn their backs on me, and hide their faces from me. But when they're in trouble they come begging to me, saying, “Please come 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 So where are these “gods” of yours that you made for yourselves? Let them come and help you when you're in trouble! Let them save you if they can, because you Israelites have as many gods as you have towns.
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 are you complaining to me? It's all of you who have all rebelled against me! declares the Lord.
Therefore do you speak to me? you all have been ungodly, and you all have transgressed against me, says the Lord.
30 It was pointless of me to punish your children because they refused to accept any discipline. You used your own swords to kill your prophets, destroying them like a ferocious 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 today, think about what the Lord is saying: Israel, have I treated you like an empty desert, or a land of thick darkness? Why are my people saying, “We can go where we like! We don't have to come and worship you any 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 girl forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding dress? Yet my people have forgotten me for too many years to count.
Will a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin her girdle? but my people has forgotten me days without number.
33 How cleverly you look for your lovers! Even prostitutes could learn something from you!
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 On top of that, your clothes are stained with the blood of the poor and the innocent. It's not like you killed them breaking into your homes. Despite all this,
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 go on saying, “I'm innocent! Surely he can't still be upset with me!” Watch out! I'm going to punish you because you go on saying, “I haven't 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 You're just so fickle—you keep on changing your mind! You will end up just as disappointed by your alliance with Egypt as you were with 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 In fact you will go into exile with your hands on your head as prisoners, because the Lord will have nothing to do with those you trust; they will be no help to you.
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.
