Jeremiah 2
1 The Lord's message came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord was maad to me,
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.
and seide, Go thou, and crye in the eeris of Jerusalem, and seie, The Lord seith these thingis, Y hadde mynde on thee, and Y hadde merci on thee in thi yong wexynge age, and on the charite of thi spousyng, whanne thou suedist me in desert, in the lond which is not sowun.
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.
Israel was hooli to the Lord, the firste of fruytis of hym; alle men that deuouren that Israel, trespassen; yuelis schulen come on hem, seith the Lord.
4 Listen to the Lord's message, descendants of Jacob, all you Israelites.
The hous of Jacob, and alle the lynagis of the hous of Israel, here ye the word of the Lord.
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!
The Lord seith these thingis, What of wickidnesse foundun youre fadris in me, for thei yeden fer awey fro me, and yeden after vanyte, and weren maad veyn?
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 thei seiden not, Where is the Lord, that made vs to stie fro the lond of Egipt, that ledde vs ouer thorou desert, bi the lond vnabitable and with out weie, bi the lond of thirst, and bi the ymage of deeth, bi the lond in whiche a man yede not, nether a man dwellide.
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 Y brouyte you in to the lond of Carmele, that ye schulden ete the fruyt therof, and the goodis therof; and ye entriden, and defouliden my lond, and settiden myn eritage in to abhomynacioun.
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.
Preestis seiden not, Where is the Lord? and thei that helden the lawe, knewen not me; and scheepherdis trespassiden ayens me, and profetis profesieden in Baal, and sueden idols.
9 So I'm going to confront you again, declares the Lord, and I will bring charges against your children's children.
Therfor yit Y schal stryue with you in doom, seith the Lord, and Y schal dispute with youre sones.
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.
Go ye to the ilis of Cethym, and se ye; and sende ye in to Cedar, and biholde ye greetli; and se ye,
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 siche a thing is doon, if a folk chaungide hise goddis; and certeynli thei ben no goddis; but my puple chaungide hise glorie in to an ydol.
12 You heavens, you should be appalled, shocked and horrified! declares the Lord.
Heuenes, be ye astonyed on this thing, and, ye yatis of heuene, be ye desolat greetli, seith 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 whi my puple hath don tweyne yuels; thei han forsake me, the welle of quyke watir, and han diggid to hem cisternes, `that weren distried, that moun not holde watris.
14 Are Israelites slaves? Were they born into slavery? So why have they become victims?
Whether Israel is a boond man, ether is borun boonde?
15 The young lions roared at you; they growled loudly. They have devastated your country; your towns lie in ruins. No one lives there.
Whi therfor is he maad in to prey? Liouns roriden on hym, and yauen her vois; thei han set the londe of hym in to wildernesse, the citees of him ben brent, and noon is that dwellith in tho.
16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved your heads.
Also the sones of Menfis and of Tafnys han defoulid thee, `til to the cop of the heed.
17 Didn't you bring this on yourself by abandoning the Lord your God when he was leading you in the right way?
Whether this is not don to thee, for thou forsokist thi Lord God, in that tyme in which he ledde thee bi the weie?
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 wolt thou to thee in the weie of Egipt, that thou drynke troblid watir? And what is to thee with the weie of Assiriens, that thou drynke water of the flood?
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.
Thi malice schal repreue thee, and thi turnyng awei schal blame thee; wite thou and se, that it is yuel and bittir that thou hast forsake thi Lord God, and that his drede is not at thee, seith the Lord God of oostis.
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.
Fro the world thou hast broke my yok, thou hast broke my bondis, and seidist, Y schal not serue. For thou hoore didist hordom in ech hiy litil hil, and vndur ech tree ful of bowis.
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?
Forsothe Y plauntide thee a chosun vyner, al trewe seed; hou therfor art thou, alien vyner, turned to me in to a schrewid thing?
22 Even bleach and plenty of soap can't get rid of your guilty stains. I still see them, declares the Lord God.
Thouy thou waischist thee with fulleris clei, and multypliest to thee the erbe borith, thou art defoulid in thi wickidnesse bifore me, seith the Lord God.
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.
Hou seist thou, Y am not defoulid, Y yede not aftir Baalym? Se thi weies in the greet valei, wite thou what thou hast do; a swifte rennere ordeynynge hise weies.
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.
A wielde asse customable in wildirnesse drow the wynd of his loue in the desire of his soule; no man schal turne awei it. Alle that seken it, schulen not faile; thei schulen fynde it in the flux of vncleene blood therof.
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.”
Forbede thi foot fro nakidnesse, and thi throte fro thirst; and thou seidist, Y dispeiride, Y schal not do; for Y louede brennyngli alien goddis, and Y schal go aftir hem.
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 a theef is schent, whanne he is takun, so the hous of Israel ben schent; thei, and kyngis of hem, the princes, and prestis, and the prophetis of hem,
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!”
that seien to a tree, Thou art my fadir; and to a stoon, Thou hast gendrid me. Thei turneden to me the bak, and not the face; and in the tyme of her turment thei schulen seie, Ryse thou, and delyuere vs.
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.
Where ben thi goddis, whiche thou madist to thee? Rise thei, and delyuere thee in the tyme of thi turment; for aftir the noumbre of thi citees weren thi goddis, thou Juda.
29 Why are you complaining to me? It's all of you who have all rebelled against me! declares the Lord.
What wolen ye stryue with me in doom? Alle ye han forsake me, seith 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 veyn Y smoot youre sones, thei resseyueden not chastisyng; youre swerd deuouride youre prophetis, youre generacioun is distried as a lioun.
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”?
Se ye the word of the Lord, whether Y am maad a wildirnesse to Israel, ether a lond late bryngynge forth fruyt? Whi therfor seide my puple, We han go awei, we schulen no more come to thee?
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.
Whethir a virgyn schal foryete hir ournement? and a spousesse `schal foryete hir brest girdil? But mi puple hath foryete me bi daies with out noumbre.
33 How cleverly you look for your lovers! Even prostitutes could learn something from you!
What enforsist thou to schewe thi weie good to seke loue, which ferthermore bothe hast tauyt thi malices thi weies,
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 the blood of pore men and innocentis is foundun in thi wyngis? Y fond not hem in dichis, but in alle thingis whiche Y remembride bifore.
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.”
And thou seidist, Y am with out synne and innocent; and therfor thi stronge veniaunce be turned awei fro me. Lo! Y schal stryue with thee in doom; for thou seidist, Y synnede not.
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.
Hou vijl art thou maad, rehersynge thi weies? and thou schalt be schent of Egipt, as thou were schent 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 whi and thou schalt go out of this lond, and thin hondis schulen be on thin heed; for whi the Lord hath al to-broke thi trist, and thou schalt haue no thing to prosperite.
