Jeremiah
2
- The word of the LORD came to me:
- "Go and proclaim in the hearing of
Jerusalem: "'I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you
loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.
- Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits
of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook
them,'" declares the LORD.
- Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob,
all you clans of the house of Israel.
- This is what the LORD says: "What fault
did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed
worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
- They did not ask, 'Where is the LORD, who
brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through
a land of deserts and rifts, a land of drought and darkness, a land where
no one travels and no one lives ?'
- I brought you into a fertile land to eat
its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance
detestable.
- The priests did not ask, 'Where is the LORD?'
Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against
me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.
- "Therefore I bring charges against
you again," declares the LORD. "And I will bring charges against
your children's children.
- Cross over to the coasts of Kittim and look,
send to Kedar and observe closely; see if there has ever been anything like
this:
- Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet
they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless
idols.
- Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder
with great horror," declares the LORD.
- "My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own
cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth? Why
then has he become plunder ?
- Lions have roared; they have growled at
him. They have laid waste his land; his towns are burned and deserted.
- Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have
shaved the crown of your head.
- Have you not brought this on yourselves
by forsaking the LORD your God when he led you in the way ?
- Now why go to Egypt to drink water from
the Shihor? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River ?
- Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding
will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you
when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe of me," declares the
Lord, the LORD Almighty.
- "Long ago you broke off your yoke and
tore off your bonds; you said, 'I will not serve you!' Indeed, on every high
hill and under every spreading tree you lay down as a prostitute.
- I had planted you like a choice vine of
sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against me into a corrupt,
wild vine ?
- Although you wash yourself with soda and
use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,"
declares the Sovereign LORD.
- "How can you say, 'I am not defiled;
I have not run after the Baals'? See how you behaved in the valley; consider
what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there,
- a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,
sniffing the wind in her craving -- in her heat who can restrain her? Any
males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find
her.
- Do not run until your feet are bare and
your throat is dry. But you said, 'It's no use! I love foreign gods, and I
must go after them.'
- "As a thief is disgraced when he is
caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced -- they, their kings and their
officials, their priests and their prophets.
- They say to wood, 'You are my father,' and
to stone, 'You gave me birth.' They have turned their backs to me and not
their faces; yet when they are in trouble, they say, 'Come and save us !'
- Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them come if they can save you when you are in trouble! For you have as
many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
- "Why do you bring charges against me?
You have all rebelled against me," declares the LORD.
- "In vain I punished your people; they
did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like
a ravening lion.
- "You of this generation, consider the
word of the LORD: "Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great
darkness? Why do my people say, 'We are free to roam; we will come to you
no more' ?
- Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride
her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.
- How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even
the worst of women can learn from your ways.
- On your clothes men find the lifeblood of
the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite
of all this
- you say, 'I am innocent; he is not angry
with me.' But I will pass judgment on you because you say, 'I have not sinned.'
- Why do you go about so much, changing your
ways? You will be disappointed by Egypt as you were by Assyria.
- You will also leave that place with your
hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not
be helped by them.
Back |
Home |
Next