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 cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have remembered thee, pitying thy soul, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown.

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 is holy to the Lord, the first fruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.

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

Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all ye families of the house 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.

Thus saith the Lord: What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

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 have not said: Where is the Lord, that made us come up out of the land of Egypt? that led us through the desert, through a land uninhabited and unpassable, through a land of drought, and the image of death, through a land wherein no man walked, nor any man dwelt?

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 brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof, and the best things thereof: and when ye entered in, you defiled my land, and made my inheritance an abomination.

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 they that held the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me: and the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols.

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].

Therefore will I yet contend in judgement with you, saith the Lord, and I will plead with your 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!

Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see: and send into Cedar, and consider diligently: and see if there hath been done any thing like this.

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.

If a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory into an idol.

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 astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof, be very desolate, saith 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 forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

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

Is Israel a bondman, or a homeborn slave? why then is he become prey?

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 lions have roared upon him, and have made a noise, they have made his land a wilderness: his cities are burnt down and there is none to dwell 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].

The children also of Memphis, and of Taphnes have deflowered thee, even to the crown of the head.

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

Hath not this been done to thee, because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God at that time, when he led thee 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 hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water? And what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water 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.

Thy own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostasy shall rebuke thee. Know thou, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not with thee, saith the Lord the God of hosts.

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].

Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. For on every high hill, and under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself.

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.

Yet I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed: how then art thou turned unto me into that which is good for nothing, O strange vineyard?

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.

Though thou wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself the herb borith, thou art stained in thy iniquity before me, saith 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 canst thou say: I am not polluted, and I have not walked after Baalim? see thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done: as a swift runner pursuing his course.

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].

A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness in the desire of his heart, snuffed up the wind of his love: none shall turn her away: all that seek her shall not fail: in her monthly filth they shall find 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.’”

Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it: for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them.

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 confounded when he is taken, so is the house of Israel confounded, they and their kings, their princes and 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.

Saying to a stock: Thou art my father: and to a stone: thou hast begotten me: they have turned their back to me, and not their face: and in the time of their affliction they will say: Arise, and deliver us.

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?

Where are the gods, whom thou hast made thee? let them arise and deliver thee in the time of thy affliction: for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda.

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

Why will you contend with me in judgement? you have all forsaken me, saith 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].

In vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction: your sword hath devoured your prophets, your generation is like a ravaging 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’?

See ye the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a lateward springing land? why then have my people said: We are revolted, we will come to thee no more.

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.

Will a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride her stomacher? but my people hath forgotten me days without number.

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].

Why dost thou endeavour to shew thy way good to seek my love, thou who has also taught thy malices to be thy 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 thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor and innocent? not in ditches have I found them, but in all places, which I mentioned before.

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 thou hast said: I am without sin and am innocent: and therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgement, because thou hast said: I have not sinned.

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.

How exceeding base art thou become, going the same ways over again! and thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed 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.”

For from thence thou shalt go, and thy hand shall be upon thy head: for the Lord hath destroyed thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing prosperous therein.