Jeremiæ 2
1 et factum est verbum Domini ad me dicens
Yahweh gave me another message
2 vade et clama in auribus Hierusalem dicens haec dicit Dominus recordatus sum tui miserans adulescentiam tuam et caritatem disponsationis tuae quando secuta me es in deserto in terra quae non seminatur
[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].
3 sanctus Israhel Domino primitiae frugum eius omnes qui devorant eum delinquunt mala venient super eos dicit Dominus
[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].”
4 audite verbum Domini domus Iacob et omnes cognationes domus Israhel
So, you [descendants of] [MTY] Jacob, all you people of [MTY] Israel,
5 haec dicit Dominus quid invenerunt patres vestri in me iniquitatis quia elongaverunt a me et ambulaverunt post vanitatem et vani facti sunt
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.
6 et non dixerunt ubi est Dominus qui ascendere nos fecit de terra Aegypti qui transduxit nos per desertum per terram inhabitabilem et inviam per terram sitis et imaginem mortis per terram in qua non ambulavit vir neque habitavit homo
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]’
7 et induxi vos in terram Carmeli ut comederetis fructum eius et optima illius et ingressi contaminastis terram meam et hereditatem meam posuistis in abominationem
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.
8 sacerdotes non dixerunt ubi est Dominus et tenentes legem nescierunt me et pastores praevaricati sunt in me et prophetae prophetaverunt in Baal et idola secuti sunt
[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.”
9 propterea adhuc iudicio contendam vobiscum ait Dominus et cum filiis vestris disceptabo
“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].
10 transite ad insulas Cetthim et videte et in Cedar mittite et considerate vehementer et videte si factum est huiuscemodi
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!
11 si mutavit gens deos et certe ipsi non sunt dii populus vero meus mutavit Gloriam suam in idolum
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.
12 obstupescite caeli super hoc et portae eius desolamini vehementer dicit Dominus
[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.
13 duo enim mala fecit populus meus me dereliquerunt fontem aquae vivae ut foderent sibi cisternas cisternas dissipatas quae continere non valent aquas
[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.
14 numquid servus est Israhel aut vernaculus quare ergo est factus in praedam
You Israeli people, you were certainly not [RHQ] slaves when you were born; you were captured [by your enemies].
15 super eum rugierunt leones et dederunt vocem suam posuerunt terram eius in solitudinem civitates eius exustae sunt et non est qui habitet in eis
[Your enemies] [MET] roared [like] lions, and they destroyed your land. [Now] your towns have been burned, and no one lives in them.
16 filii quoque Memfeos et Tafnes constupraverunt te usque ad verticem
Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, [cities in Egypt], have [defeated you] [and] shaved your heads [to show that you are their slaves].
17 numquid non istud factum est tibi quia dereliquisti Dominum Deum tuum eo tempore quo ducebat te per viam
But it is [RHQ] because you abandoned [me], Yahweh, that these disasters have happened to you.
18 et nunc quid tibi vis in via Aegypti ut bibas aquam turbidam et quid tibi cum via Assyriorum ut bibas aquam Fluminis
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?
19 arguet te malitia tua et aversio tua increpabit te scito et vide quia malum et amarum est reliquisse te Dominum Deum tuum et non esse timorem mei apud te dicit Dominus Deus exercituum
[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.
20 a saeculo confregisti iugum meum rupisti vincula mea et dixisti non serviam in omni enim colle sublimi et sub omni ligno frondoso tu prosternebaris meretrix
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].
21 ego autem plantavi te vineam electam omne semen verum quomodo ergo conversa es in pravum vinea aliena
[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.
22 si laveris te nitro et multiplicaveris tibi herbam borith maculata es in iniquitate tua coram me dicit Dominus Deus
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.
23 quomodo dicis non sum polluta post Baalim non ambulavi vide vias tuas in convalle scito quid feceris cursor levis explicans vias tuas
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].
24 onager adsuetus in solitudine in desiderio animae suae adtraxit ventum amoris sui nullus avertet eam omnes qui quaerunt eam non deficient in menstruis eius invenient eam
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].
25 prohibe pedem tuum a nuditate et guttur tuum a siti et dixisti desperavi nequaquam faciam adamavi quippe alienos et post eos ambulabo
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.’”
26 quomodo confunditur fur quando deprehenditur sic confusi sunt domus Israhel ipsi et reges eorum principes et sacerdotes et prophetae eorum
[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.
27 dicentes ligno pater meus es tu et lapidi tu me genuisti verterunt ad me tergum et non faciem et in tempore adflictionis suae dicent surge et libera nos
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.
28 ubi sunt dii tui quos fecisti tibi surgant et liberent te in tempore adflictionis tuae secundum numerum quippe civitatum tuarum erant dii tui Iuda
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?
29 quid vultis mecum iudicio contendere omnes dereliquistis me dicit Dominus
You complain that it was wrong for me [not to have rescued you], but you have all rebelled against me.
30 frustra percussi filios vestros disciplinam non receperunt devoravit gladius vester prophetas vestros quasi leo vastator
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].
31 generatio vestra videte verbum Domini numquid solitudo factus sum Israheli aut terra serotina quare ergo dixit populus meus recessimus non veniemus ultra ad te
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’?
32 numquid obliviscitur virgo ornamenti sui sponsa fasciae pectoralis suae populus vero meus oblitus est mei diebus innumeris
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.
33 quid niteris bonam ostendere viam tuam ad quaerendam dilectionem quae insuper et malitias tuas docuisti vias tuas
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].
34 et in alis tuis inventus est sanguis animarum pauperum et innocentium non in fossis inveni eos sed in omnibus quae supra memoravi
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),
35 et dixisti absque peccato et innocens ego sum et propterea avertatur furor tuus a me ecce ego iudicio contendam tecum eo quod dixeris non peccavi
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.’
36 quam vilis es facta nimis iterans vias tuas et ab Aegypto confunderis sicut confusa es ab Assur
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.
37 nam et ab ista egredieris et manus tuae erunt super caput tuum quoniam obtrivit Dominus confidentiam tuam et nihil habebis prosperum
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.”
