Jeremiah 2
2
Israel Turns from God
1The Lord spoke this word to me: 2“Go and speak to the people of Jerusalem. Say to them: This is what the Lord says:
‘When you were a young nation, you were faithful to me.
You loved me like a young bride.
You followed me through the desert.
It was a land that had never been planted.
3The people of Israel were holy to the Lord.
They were like the first fruits from his harvest.
Those who tried to hurt Israel were judged guilty.
Disasters happened to them,’” says the Lord.
4Hear the word of the Lord, family of Jacob.
Hear the message, all you family groups of Israel.
5This is what the Lord says:
“I was fair to your ancestors.
Why did they turn away from me?
Your ancestors worshiped useless idols.
And they became useless themselves.
6Your ancestors didn’t say,
‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt.
He led us through the desert.
He led us through a dry and rocky land.
He led us through a dark and dangerous land.
He led us where no one travels or lives.
But where is he now?’
7I brought you into a fertile land.
I did this so you could eat its fruit and produce.
But you came and made my land unclean.
You made it a hated place.
8The priests didn’t ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
The people who know the teachings didn’t know me.
The leaders turned against me.
The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal.
They worshiped useless idols.
9“So now I will again tell what I have against you,” says the Lord.
“And I will tell what I have against your grandchildren.
10Go across the sea to the island of Cyprus and see.
Send someone to the land of Kedar to look closely.
See if there has ever been anything like this!
11Has a nation ever exchanged their old gods for new ones?
(Of course, their gods are not really gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for idols worth nothing!
12Skies, be shocked at the things that have happened.
Shake with great fear!” says the Lord.
13“My people have done two sins.
They have turned away from me.
And I am the spring of living water.
And they have dug their own wells.
But they are broken wells that cannot hold water.
14Have the people of Israel become slaves?
Have they become like someone who was born a slave?
Why was their wealth stolen?
15Enemies roar like lions at Israel.
They growl at Israel.
They have destroyed the land of Israel.
The cities of Israel have been burned,
and all the people have left.
16The men from the Egyptian cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have disgraced you by shaving the top of your head.
17You have brought this on yourselves.
You turned away from me, the Lord your God,
when I led you in the way.
18It did not help to go to Egypt
and drink from the Shihor River.
It did not help to go to Assyria
and drink from the Euphrates River.
19Your evil will bring punishment to you.
The wrong you have done will teach you a lesson.
Think about it and understand.
It is a terrible evil to turn away from the Lord your God.
It is wrong not to fear me,”
says the Lord, the Lord of heaven’s armies.
20“A long time ago you refused to obey me as an ox breaks its yoke.
You broke the ropes I used to hold you to me.
You said to me, ‘I will not serve you!’
In fact, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you lay down as a prostitute.
21I planted you as a special vine.
You were like very good seed.
How then did you turn
into a wild vine that grows bad fruit?
22You might wash yourself with cleanser.
And you might use much soap.
But I can still see the stain of your guilt,” says the Lord God.
23“How can you say to me, ‘I am not guilty.
I have not worshiped the Baal idols’?
Think about the things you did in the valley.
Think about what you have done.
You are like a she-camel in mating season
that runs from place to place.
24You are like a wild donkey that lives in the desert.
At mating time she sniffs the wind.
At that time no one can hold her back.
Any male who chases her will easily catch her.
At mating time, it is easy to find her.
25Don’t run until your feet are bare
or until your throat is dry.
But you say, ‘It’s no use!
I love those other gods.
I must worship them!’
26“A thief is ashamed when someone catches him stealing.
In the same way the family of Israel is ashamed.
The kings and the officers,
the priests and the prophets are ashamed.
27They say to things of wood, ‘You are my father.’
They say to idols of stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
Those people won’t look at me.
They have turned their backs to me.
But when they get into trouble, they say,
‘Come and save us!’
28Where are the idols you have made for yourselves?
Let them come and save you
when you are in trouble!
People of Judah, you have as many idols
as you have towns!
29“Why do you accuse me?
All of you have turned against me,” says the Lord.
30“I punished your people, but it did not help.
They didn’t come back when they were punished.
You killed with your swords the prophets who came to you.
You were like a dangerous lion.
31“People of Judah, pay attention to the word of the Lord:
Have I been like a desert to the people of Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to them?
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to wander.
We won’t come to you anymore’?
32A young woman does not forget her jewelry.
A bride does not forget the decorations for her dress.
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can be counted!
33You really know how to chase after love.
Even the worst women can learn evil ways from you.
34You have blood on your clothes.
It is the blood of the poor and innocent people.
You killed them,
but they weren’t thieves you had caught breaking in.
You do all these things,
35but you say, ‘I am innocent.
God is not angry with me.’
But I will judge you guilty of lying.
It is because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36It is so easy for you to change your mind.
Assyria let you down.
And Egypt will let you down, too.
37You will eventually leave that place.
And, like captives, your hands will be on your head.
You trusted those countries.
But you will not be helped by them.
This is because the Lord has rejected them.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 2: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 2
2
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 "Go, and cry out to the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: I have remembered you, taking pity on your youth and on the charity of your betrothal, when you followed me into the desert, into a land which is not sown.
3 Israel is holy to the Lord, the first of his fruits. All those who devour him commit an offense. Evils will overwhelm them, says the Lord."
4 Listen to the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all you families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord: "What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they would draw far away from me, and would walk after emptiness, and would become empty?
6 And they have not said: 'Where is the Lord, who caused us to ascend from the land of Egypt; who led us through the desert, through an uninhabited and impassable land, through a land of drought and of the image of death, through a land in which no one walked and in which no man lived?'
7 And I led you into the land of Carmel, so that you would eat from its fruit and from its excellence. And having entered it, you defiled my land, and you turned my inheritance into an abomination.
8 The priests have not sad: 'Where is the Lord?' And those who held the law did not know me. And the pastors betrayed me. And the prophets prophesied in Baal and followed idols.
9 Because of this, I will still contend in judgment against you, says the Lord, and I will dispute with your sons.
10 Cross over to the isles of Kittim, and gaze. And send to Kedar, and consider diligently. And see if anything like this has ever been done.
11 See if a nation has ever changed their gods, though certainly those are not gods. Yet truly, my people have exchanged their glory for an idol.
12 Be astonished at this, O heavens, and be utterly desolate, O gates of heaven, says the Lord.
13 For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the Fountain of living water, and they have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that are unable to hold water.
14 Is Israel a servant, or one born into slavery? Then why has he become a prey?
15 The lions have roared over him, and they have uttered their voice. They have set his land in solitude; his cities have been burned up, and there is no one who lives in them.
16 Likewise, the sons of Memphis and of Tahpanhes have defiled you, even to the top of the head.
17 Has this not been done to you because you abandoned the Lord your God, in that time when he was leading you by the way?
18 And now what do you want from the way of Egypt, but to drink their turbid water? And what do you want from the way of the Assyrians, but to drink the water of their river?
19 Your own malice will reprove you, and your own apostasy will rebuke you! But know and perceive this: it is an evil and bitter thing for you to forsake the Lord your God, and to be without my fear within you, says the Lord, the God of hosts.
20 From ancient times, you have broken my yoke; you have torn apart my bonds, and you have said, 'I will not serve.' For on every high hill, and under every leafy tree, you have been debased, O harlot.
21 Yet I planted you as an elect vineyard, with only true seed. Then how have you been turned away from me, toward that which is depraved, O strange vineyard?
22 Even if you wash yourself with soap, and increase your use of herbal soaps, you are still stained by your iniquity in my sight, says the Lord God.
23 How can you say: 'I have not been polluted. I have not walked after Baal?' Consider your ways in the steep valley. Acknowledge what you have done, so that you may be like a swift runner, following his course.
24 A wild donkey accustomed to solitude, out of the desire in his soul, caught the scent of his lover. Now nothing will turn him away from her. All those who seek her will not cease. But they will find her in her menstruation.
25 You should keep your foot from being naked, and your throat from being thirsty. But you have said: 'I have lost hope. I will not do it. For certainly, I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them.'
26 In the same way that a thief is confounded when he has been apprehended, so the house of Israel has been confounded, they and their kings, their leaders and priests and prophets.
27 For they say to a piece of wood, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You have conceived me.' They have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their affliction, they will say: 'Rise up and deliver us.'
28 Where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up and deliver you in the time of your affliction. For certainly, your gods were like the number of your cities, O Judah.
29 Why do you want to contend against me in judgment? You have all forsaken me, says the Lord.
30 I have struck your children to no effect; they have not accepted discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets. Your generation is like a raging lion.
31 Consider the word of the Lord. Have I become like a wilderness to Israel, or like a land late to bear fruit? Then why have my people said, 'We are withdrawing; we will no longer approach you'?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride the covering across her breast? Yet truly, my people have forgotten me, for innumerable days.
33 Why are you striving to claim that your way is good, as if to seek my love, when all the while you are also displaying your malice by your own way,
34 and in your armpits there is found the blood of poor and innocent souls? I have found them, not in ditches, but everywhere that I mentioned previously.
35 And you have said: 'I am innocent and without sin. And because of this, let your fury be turned away from me.' Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: 'I have not sinned.'
36 How exceedingly vile you have become, repeating your ways again and again! And so, you will be ashamed of Egypt, just as you were ashamed of Assur.
37 For you will also depart from that place, and your hand will be upon your head. For the Lord has crushed your confidence, and you will have nothing prosperous by it."
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in