Jeremiah — Chapter 2

¹The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

²Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh, I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

³Israel [was] holiness to Yahweh, the first-fruits of his increase: all who devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come on them, says Yahweh.

⁴Hear you the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:

⁵thus says Yahweh, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

⁶Neither said they, Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man lived?

⁷I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it; but when you entered, you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

⁸The priests didn`t say, Where is Yahweh? and those who handle the law didn`t know me: the rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

⁹Therefore I will yet contend with you, says Yahweh, and with your children`s children will I contend.

¹⁰For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send to Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there has been such a thing.

¹¹Has a nation changed [its] gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.

¹²Be astonished, you heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be you very desolate, says Yahweh.

¹³For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

¹⁴Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born [slave]? why is he become a prey?

¹⁵The young lions have roared on him, and yelled; and they have made his land waste: his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.

¹⁶The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.

¹⁷Haven`t you procured this to yourself, in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, when he led you by the way?

¹⁸Now what have you to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what have you to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?

¹⁹Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you, says the Lord, Yahweh of Hosts.

²⁰For of old time I have broken your yoke, and burst your bonds; and you said, I will not serve; for on every high hill and under every green tree you did bow yourself, playing the prostitute.

²¹Yet I had planted you a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then are you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?

²²For though you wash you with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me, says the Lord Yahweh.

²³How can you say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, know what you have done: [you are] a swift dromedary traversing her ways;

²⁴a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that snuffs up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.

²⁵Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst: but you said, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.

²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets;

²⁷who tell a stock, You are my father; and to a stone, You have brought me forth: for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us.

²⁸But where are your gods that you have made you? let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for according to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah.

²⁹Why will you contend with me? you all have transgressed against me, says Yahweh.

³⁰In vain have I struck your children; they received no correction: your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹Generation, see the word of Yahweh. Have I been a wilderness to Israel? or a land of thick darkness? why say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more to you?

³²Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

³³How trimmest you your way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women have you taught your ways.

³⁴Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: you did not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.

³⁵Yet you said, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with you, because you say, I have not sinned.

³⁶Why go you about so much to change your way? you shall be ashamed of Egypt also, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

³⁷From there also shall you go forth, with your hands on your head: for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper with them.