Jeremiah 2

1 Yahweh gave me another message

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 [to proclaim to everyone in Jerusalem. He said that I should tell them this] [MET]: “I, Yahweh, remember that you very much wanted to please me [long ago]. [You tried to please me like] a bride [tries to please her husband]; You loved me, and you followed me through the desert [DOU].

Go and say in the ears of Jerusalem, The Lord says, I still keep the memory of your kind heart when you were young, and your love when you became my bride; how you went after me in the waste of sand, in an unplanted land.

3 [At that time you] Israelis (were set apart/belonged only) to me; [you belonged to me like] the first part of the harvests belong to me [MET]. I promised to punish all those who harmed you, my people, and truly I did send disasters on them. [That happened because I], Yahweh, said [that it would happen].”

Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his increase: all who made attacks on him were judged as wrongdoers, evil came on them, says the Lord.

4 So, you [descendants of] [MTY] Jacob, all you people of [MTY] Israel,

Give ear to the words of the Lord, O sons of Jacob and all the families of Israel:

5 listen to what Yahweh says: “(What sin did I commit [RHQ] that caused your ancestors to turn far away from me?/Though your ancestors found no fault in me, they turned far away from me.) They worshiped worthless idols, and they themselves became worthless.

These are the words of the Lord: What evil have your fathers seen in me that they have gone far from me, and, walking after what is false, have become false?

6 They did not say, ‘Yahweh brought us [safely] out of Egypt, and he led us through a desert where there were a lot of pits; he led us where there was no water and where it was very dangerous, through a land where no one lives, and no one even travels. (So where is Yahweh now?/So he should be helping us now!) [RHQ]’

And they never said, Where is the Lord, who took us up out of the land of Egypt; who was our guide through the waste of sand, through an unplanted land full of deep holes, through a dry land of deep shade, which no one went through and where no man was living?

7 And when I brought you into a very fertile land, in order that you could enjoy [all] the fruit and [other] good things that you would harvest, you caused the land that I promised to give to you to be unfit for me and to become disgusting/detestable to me.

And I took you into a fertile land, where you were living on its fruit and its wealth; but when you came in, you made my land unclean, and made my heritage a disgusting thing.

8 [Your] priests also did not say, ‘(Where is Yahweh now?/Yahweh should be helping us now!)’ [RHQ] Those who teach/explain my laws do not [want to] know me, and [your] leaders have rebelled against me. [Your] prophets gave you messages from [their god] Baal, and they worship worthless idols.”

The priests did not say, Where is the Lord? and those who were expert in the law had no knowledge of me: and the rulers did evil against me, and the prophets became prophets of the Baal, going after things without value.

9 “So, I will accuse you in court. [In future years], I will say what your children and your grandchildren have done that is wrong. [That will happen because I], Yahweh, have said [that it will happen].

For this reason, I will again put forward my cause against you, says the Lord, even against you and against your children's children.

10 If you go [west] to the island of Cyprus, or if you go [east] to Kedar [land, ] and if you ask people in those places, they will tell you that no people [from their countries] have ever done the wicked things that you people have done!

For go over to the sea-lands of Kittim and see; send to Kedar and give deep thought to it; and see if there has ever been such a thing.

11 The people of no other nation have ever [RHQ] abandoned their gods that they thought were glorious and started to worship gods that are not really gods, but you people have abandoned me, your glorious God, and are worshiping gods that are useless.

Has any nation ever made a change in their gods, though they are no gods? but my people have given up their glory in exchange for what is of no profit.

12 [It is as though everything in] the sky is surprised and dismayed/appalled [about what you have done]; [it is as though] they tremble because they are very horrified.

Be full of wonder, O heavens, at this; be overcome with fear, be completely waste, says the Lord.

13 [You], my people, have done two evil things: You have rejected me, the one who is [like] [MET] a fountain [where you can obtain] fresh water, and you [are worshiping gods that are like] [MET] pits in the ground that are cracked and which are not able to hold any water.

For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.

14 You Israeli people, you were certainly not [RHQ] slaves when you were born; you were captured [by your enemies].

Is Israel a servant? has he been a house-servant from birth? why has he been made waste?

15 [Your enemies] [MET] roared [like] lions, and they destroyed your land. [Now] your towns have been burned, and no one lives in them.

The young lions have made an outcry against him with a loud voice: they have made his land waste; his towns are burned up, with no one living in them.

16 Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, [cities in Egypt], have [defeated you] [and] shaved your heads [to show that you are their slaves].

Even the children of Noph and Tahpanhes have put shame on you.

17 But it is [RHQ] because you abandoned [me], Yahweh, that these disasters have happened to you.

Has not this come on you because you have given up the Lord your God, who was your guide by the way?

18 So (why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Egypt?/it certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Egypt) [RHQ]. Why are you trying to make an alliance with [MET] the rulers of Assyria who live near the [Euphrates] River?

And now, what have you to do on the way to Egypt, to get your drink from the waters of the Nile? or what have you to do on the way to Assyria, to get your drink from the waters of the River?

19 [It is because] you have been [very] wicked that I [PRS] will punish you. It is because you have turned away from me that I [PRS] will condemn you. [When I do that], you will realize that painful and evil [DOU] things will happen to you because you have forsaken [me], Yahweh, your God, and you no [longer] revere me. [That will certainly happen because] I, Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, have said it.

The evil you yourselves have done will be your punishment, your errors will be your judge: be certain then, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing to give up the Lord your God, and no longer to be moved by fear of me, says the Lord, the Lord of armies.

20 Long ago, you stopped obeying [me] [MET], and you would not allow [me] to lead you [MET]; you refused to worship [me]. Instead, you worship idols that are under trees on the top of every hill, and your young women have sex with [EUP] [men at those places].

For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman

21 [It is as though] [MET] you were a grapevine that I planted when it was a cutting from a very good vine. So now it is disgusting that [RHQ] you have become [like] a rotten worthless vine.

But when you were planted by me, you were a noble vine, in every way a true seed: how then have you been changed into the branching plant of a strange vine?

22 Your guilt from your sins is like [MET] very bad stains on a cloth, and you cannot get rid of those stains even by using very strong soap. [This is true because I], Yahweh, have said it.

For even if you are washed with soda and take much soap, still your evil-doing is marked before me, says the Lord God.

23 You say that you have not sinned. You say ‘We have not become unacceptable to God; we have not worshiped Baal.’ But think about [the disgusting things that you do very eagerly] in [Hinnom] Valley [outside Jerusalem]. You are like desperate female camels, running here and there [to find male camels to have sex with].

How are you able to say, I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, be clear about what you have done: you are a quick-footed camel twisting her way in and out;

24 You are [like] wild female donkeys in the desert. They sniff the air to find where the male donkeys are, and no one can [RHQ] restrain them. The male donkeys that want them do not become tired searching for them, because at mating time they find them [easily].

An untrained ass, used to the waste land, breathing up the wind in her desire; at her time, who is able to send her away? all those who are looking for her will have no need to make themselves tired; in her month they will get her.

25 You constantly run here and there [to find idols to worship], with the result that your sandals are worn out, and your throats have become dry. [I told you to stop doing that], but you said, ‘We cannot stop, because we love foreign gods, and we must worship them.’”

Do not let your foot be without shoes, or your throat dry from need of water: but you said, There is no hope: no, for I have been a lover of strange gods, and after them I will go.

26 [Yahweh says this]: “A robber is disgraced when he is caught. And all of you, including your kings and priests and prophets, are similarly disgraced.

As the thief is shamed when he is taken, so is Israel shamed; they, their kings and their rulers, their priests and their prophets;

27 You say to [a piece of] wood [that is carved to become a sacred idol], ‘You are our father!’ And you say to a stone [that you have set up], ‘You are our mother!’ You have rejected [IDM] me, but when you experience troubles, you cry out to me to rescue you.

Who say to a tree, You are my father; and to a stone, You have given me life: for their backs have been turned to me, not their faces: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Up! and be our saviour.

28 Why do you not [RHQ] cry out to the gods that you made? You have as many gods as you have cities [and towns] in Judah. So why do you not plead with them to rescue you when you experience disasters?

But where are the gods you have made for yourselves? let them come, if they are able to give you salvation in the time of your trouble: for the number of your gods is as the number of your towns, O Judah.

29 You complain that it was wrong for me [not to have rescued you], but you have all rebelled against me.

Why will you put forward your cause against me? You have all done evil against me, says the Lord.

30 I punished some of you, but you did not learn anything from my doing that. You have killed many of the prophets that I [sent to you], like [SIM] fierce lions kill [other animals].

I gave your children blows to no purpose; they got no good from training: your sword has been the destruction of your prophets, like a death-giving lion.

31 You people of Israel, pay attention to what I say. I have certainly [RHQ] never [abandoned you] in a desert; I have never [left you] in a land full of darkness. So, why do you, my people, say ‘We are free from God’s control; we will not return to [worship] God any more’?

O generation, see the word of the Lord. Have I been a waste land to Israel? or a land of dark night? why do my people say, We have got loose, we will not come to you again?

32 A young woman would certainly never [RHQ] forget [to wear] her jewelry, and a bride would never [RHQ] forget to wear her wedding dress, but you my people have forgotten me for many years.

Is it possible for a virgin to put out of her memory her ornaments, or a bride her robes? but my people have put me out of their memories for unnumbered days.

33 You know how to easily find [gods from other countries] whom you can love. You can find them as easily as a prostitute [can find men to sleep with].

With what care are your ways ordered when you are looking for love! so ... your ways.

34 Although you have on your clothes the blood of poor people whom you have murdered, people who (were innocent/had not done things that are wrong),

And in the skirts of your robe may be seen the life-blood of those who have done no wrong: ...

35 you say ‘We have not done anything that is wrong; so surely [Yahweh] is not angry with us.’ But I will punish [MTY] you [severely] for saying ‘We have not sinned.’

And still you said, I have done no wrong; truly, his wrath is turned away from me. See, I will take up the cause against you, because you say, I have done no wrong.

36 Previously you requested [the army of] Assyria to help you, but they were not able to help you. Now you have requested [the army of] Egypt to help you, but they will not be able to help you, either.

Why do you go about so much for the purpose of changing your way? you will be shamed on account of Egypt, as you were shamed on account of Assyria.

37 They will capture you, and you will be [their prisoners] [MTY], led to Egypt, [very ashamed] with your hands on your heads. That will happen because I, Yahweh, have rejected those [nations] that you are relying on, and they will not be able to help you at all.”

Truly, you will go out from him with your hands on your head: for the Lord has given up those in whom you have put your faith, and they will be of no help to you.