Jeremiah 2:1-13

The LORD spoke his word to me, “Go and announce to Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride. I remember how you followed me into the desert, into a land that couldn’t be farmed. Israel was set apart for the LORD. It was the best part of the harvest. All who devoured it became guilty, and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the LORD. Listen to the LORD’s word, descendants of Jacob, all the families in the nation of Israel. This is what the LORD says: What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they went so far away from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They didn’t ask, “Where is the LORD, who brought us from Egypt? He led us through the desert, through a wasteland and its pits, a land of drought and the shadow of death. No one lives there or travels there.” I brought them into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. They came and made my land unclean. They made my property disgusting. The priests didn’t ask, “Where is the LORD?” Those who deal with my teachings didn’t know me. The rulers rebelled against me. The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal and followed statues that couldn’t help them. “That is why I am bringing charges against you,” declares the LORD, “and I am bringing charges against your grandchildren. Go over to the coasts of Cyprus, and see. Send ⌞someone⌟ to Kedar, and observe closely. See if there has ever been anything like this. Has any nation ever exchanged gods? (Their gods aren’t really gods.) Yet, my people have exchanged their Glory for something that doesn’t help them. Be horrified over this, heaven. Be terribly afraid,” declares the LORD. “My people have done two things wrong. They have abandoned me, the fountain of life-giving water. They have also dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that can’t hold water.