| Jer. 2:1 |
And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, |
| Jer. 2:2 |
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah: / I remember concerning you the kindness of your youth, / The love of your bridal days, / When you followed after Me in the wilderness, / In a land that was not sown. |
| Jer. 2:3 |
Israel was holiness to Jehovah, / The firstfruits of His increase; / All who ate of it were guilty; / Evil came upon them, / Declares Jehovah. |
| Jer. 2:4 |
Hear the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. |
| Jer. 2:5 |
Thus says Jehovah: / What iniquity did your fathers find in Me / That they went far away from Me / And walked after vanity / And became vain? |
| Jer. 2:6 |
And they did not say, Where is Jehovah, / Who brought us up from the land of Egypt, / Who brought us through the wilderness, / Through a land of deserts and pits, / Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, / Through a land that no one passes through / And where no man dwells? |
| Jer. 2:7 |
And I brought you into the land of the fruited field, / To eat its fruit and its goodness. / But you came and defiled My land / And made My inheritance an abomination. |
| Jer. 2:8 |
The priests did not say, / Where is Jehovah? / And those who handle the law did not know Me, / And the shepherds transgressed against Me, / And the prophets prophesied by Baal / And followed after things that did not benefit [them.] |
| Jer. 2:9 |
Therefore I will yet contend with you, declares Jehovah; / And with your children's children I will contend. |
| Jer. 2:10 |
For pass over to the coastlands of Kittim and see, / And send [someone] to Kedar and consider carefully, / And see if there has [ever] been [anything] like this. |
| Jer. 2:11 |
Has a nation [ever] exchanged [its] gods, / Even though they are no gods? / But My people have exchanged their glory / For that which does not benefit [them.] |
| Jer. 2:12 |
Be appalled at this, O heavens, / And be horrified; be very desolate, / Declares Jehovah. |
| Jer. 2:13 |
For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water. |
| Jer. 2:14 |
Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn [slave?] / Why has he become a prey? |
| Jer. 2:15 |
The young lions roared over him; / They sounded their voices. / And they have made his land a waste; / His cities are burned, without inhabitant. |
| Jer. 2:16 |
Also the children of Memphis and Tahpanhes / Have shaved the crown of your head. |
| Jer. 2:17 |
Have you not done this to yourself / By your forsaking Jehovah your God / When He was leading you in the way? |
| Jer. 2:18 |
And now what do you have on the road to Egypt, / To drink the waters of the Shihor? / And what do you have on the road to Assyria, / To drink the waters of the River? |
| Jer. 2:19 |
Your own wickedness will correct you, / And your apostasies will reprove you. / Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, / That you have forsaken Jehovah your God / And that My fear is not in you, / Declares the Lord Jehovah of hosts. |
| Jer. 2:20 |
For long ago you broke your yoke; / You tore off your bonds; / And you said, I will not serve! / Indeed upon every high hill / And under every flourishing tree / You have lain down, [you] have committed fornication. |
| Jer. 2:21 |
Yet I, I had planted you as a choice vine, / Wholly a faithful seed. / How then have you turned yourself before Me / Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine? |
| Jer. 2:22 |
For though you wash yourself with lye / And make use of much soap, / Your iniquity remains as a stain before Me, / Declares the Lord Jehovah. |
| Jer. 2:23 |
How can you say, I am not defiled; / I have not gone after the Baals? / Look at your way in the valley; / Know what you have done. / [You are like] a swift young camel entangling her ways, |
| Jer. 2:24 |
[Like] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, / Panting after the wind in her desire. / In her passion who can turn her away? / None that seek her will weary themselves: / They will find her in her month. |
| Jer. 2:25 |
Keep your foot from being unshod / And your throat from thirst; / But you said, It is hopeless. / No! For I have loved strangers, / And I will go after them. |
| Jer. 2:26 |
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, / So the house of Israel is ashamed-- / They, their kings, their princes, / And their priests and their prophets, |
| Jer. 2:27 |
Who say to a tree, You are my father; / And to a stone, You have brought me forth-- / For they have turned [their] back to Me, / And not [their] faces. / Yet in a time of their trouble they will say, / Arise and save us. |
| Jer. 2:28 |
But where are your gods, whom you made for yourselves? / 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, O Judah. |
| Jer. 2:29 |
Why do you contend with Me? / You have all transgressed against Me, / Declares Jehovah. |
| Jer. 2:30 |
In vain I have stricken your children: / They have taken no correction. / Your own sword has devoured your prophets / Like a destroying lion. |
| Jer. 2:31 |
O generation, attend to the word of Jehovah: / Have I been a wilderness to Israel, / Or a land of deep darkness? / Why do My people say, We roam about; / We will no longer come to You? |
| Jer. 2:32 |
Can the virgin forget her ornaments, / Or the bride her attire? / But My people have forgotten Me / For days without number. |
| Jer. 2:33 |
How you prepare your ways / To seek love! / Therefore you have even taught / Wicked women your ways. |
| Jer. 2:34 |
Also on your skirts is found / The lifeblood of the innocent poor. / You did not find them breaking in, / But [killed them] because of all these things. |
| Jer. 2:35 |
But you said, I am innocent; / Surely His anger will turn from me. / I am about to enter into judgment with you, / Because you say, I have not sinned. |
| Jer. 2:36 |
Why do you go about so much / To change your way? / You will be put to shame by Egypt also, / Even as you were put to shame by Assyria. |
| Jer. 2:37 |
Indeed, from it you will go forth / With your hands upon your head; / For Jehovah has rejected those in whom you trust, / And you will not prosper by them. |