< Jeremiah 2 >
1 And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying;
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem saying—Thus saith Yahweh, I remember in thy behalf, the lovingkindness of thy youthful days, The love of thy bridal estate, —Thy coming out after me, Through the desert, Through a land, not sown:
3 Holiness, was Israel unto Yahweh, The first-fruit of his increase, —All that devoured it, were held guilty, Calamity used to come upon them, —Declareth Yahweh.
4 Hear ye the word of Yahweh O house of Jacob, And all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus, saith Yahweh, —What did your fathers find in me by way of perversity, that they removed far from me, —and went after vanity, and became vain?
6 Neither said they, Where is Yahweh, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, —Who led us Through the desert, Through a land of wastes and clefts, Through a land of parched places and of death-shade, Through a land, Along which no man had passed, And in which no son of earth dwelt?
7 Then brought I you into a country of garden land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof, —and yet when ye entered, then defiled ye my land, and mine inheritance, ye made an abomination
8 The priests, said not Where is Yahweh? And, they who handled the law, did not acknowledge me, And the shepherds transgressed against me, —And the prophets, prophesied by Baal, And so after things that could not profit, did they walk.
9 Therefore yet further will I plead with you Declareth Yahweh, Yea with your children’s children, will I plead.
10 For—pass through the coastlands of the West and see, And unto Kedar, send ye and consider diligently, —And see—whether there hath been the like of this!
11 Hath a nation, changed gods, although they were No-gods? Yet my people have changed my glory for that which could not profit!
12 Be amazed, O ye heavens, at this, —And shudder, be dried up utterly, Urgeth Yahweh.
13 For two wicked things, have my people committed, —Me, have they forsaken a fountain of living water, To hew out for themselves cisterns broken cisterns, that cannot hold water.
14 Was Israel a servant? Born in the house, was he? Wherefore hath he become a prey?
15 Against him, have been roaring wild lions, They have uttered their voice, —and have made his land a desolation, His cities, have been burned, so as to have no inhabitant.
16 Even the sons of Noph and Tahpanhes have been crushing the crown of the head.
17 Is not this what thou wast certain to do for thyself, —in that thou didst forsake Yahweh thy God, when he was leading thee by the way?
18 Now, therefore what hast thou to do with the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of Shihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River ["Euphrates"]?
19 Let thy wickedness correct thee And thine apostasies, rebuke thee, Know therefore and see That it is a wicked thing and a bitter, that thou shouldest have forsaken Yahweh thy God, And that the dread of me should not have pertained to thee, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh of hosts.
20 For, in age-past time, I brake thy yoke, I tare off thy fetters, And thou saidst, I will not transgress, —Nevertheless, on every high hill, and under every green tree, wast thou lying down as an unchaste woman.
21 Yet, I, planted thee a precious vine, a wholly true seed, —How then didst thou change thyself towards me, into the degenerate plantings of the alien vine?
22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, And take thee much soap, Yet is thine iniquity inscribed before me Declareth My Lord Yahweh.
23 How canst thou say, I have not defiled myself, After the Baalim, have I not gone? See thy way, in the valley, Own what thou hast done, —A nimble young she-camel, crossing her own ways;
24 A wild ass, taught of the desert, In the desire of her soul, she snuffeth the wind, In her occasion, who can turn her back? None who seek her, will weary themselves, In her month, they shall find her!
25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, And thy throat from thirst! But thou saidst Hopeless! No! for I love foreigners and after them, will I go.
26 As the shame of a thief when he is found, So, hath been put to shame, the house of Israel, —They, their kings their princes, and their priests and their prophets:
27 Saying, to a tree, My father, art thou! And to a stone, Thou, didst give us birth, For they have turned unto me the back and not the face, —But in the time of their calamity, they will say, Arise, and save us!
28 Where then are thy gods which thou hast made for thyself? Let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy calamity, —For according to the number of thy cities, have become thy gods O Judah.
29 Wherefore, should ye plead against me, All of you, have transgressed against me Declareth Yahweh.
30 In vain, have I smitten your children, Correction, have they not accepted, —Your sword hath devoured your prophets, as a lion that destroyeth.
31 O generation see, ye, the word of Yahweh, A desert, became I unto Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Wherefore, have my people said, We have roved about, We will not come in any more unto thee?
32 Can, a virgin, forget, her ornaments, —A bride, her girdle? Yet, my people, have forgotten me, days without number.
33 How thou dost make winsome thy way, to seek love! Therefore, even unto wicked women, hast thou taught thy ways.
34 Even in thy skirts, is there found, The blood of the lives of the helpless innocents, —Not in the act of breaking in, didst thou find them, yet [the blood is] on all these.
35 Although thou saidst, Because I am innocent, surely hath his anger turned back from me, —Behold me! entering into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned!
36 How vigorously, thou goest about changing thy way! Even of Egypt, shalt thou be ashamed, just as thou wast ashamed of Assyria:
37 Even from this one, shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head, —For Yahweh hath rejected those in whom thou confidest, and thou shalt not prosper with them.
