Jeremiah 2
Judah’s Apostasy
1Now the word of the LORD came to me saying,
2“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD,
The love of your betrothals,
Your following after Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
The first of His harvest.
All who ate of it became guilty;
Evil came upon them,” declares the LORD.’”
4Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
5Thus says the LORD,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty?
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 deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no man dwelt?’
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and defiled My land,
And My inheritance you made an abomination.
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me,
And the prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after things that did not profit.
“And with your sons’ sons I will contend.
And send to Kedar and observe closely
And see if there has been such a thing as this!
When they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
For that which does not profit.
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD.
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.
Why has he become a prey?
They have roared loudly.
And they have made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
Have shaved the crown of your head.
By your forsaking the LORD your God
When He led you in the way?
To drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
To drink the waters of the Euphrates?
And your apostasies will reprove you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to forsake the LORD your God,
And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord GOD of hosts.
And tore off your bonds;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every green tree
You have lain down as a harlot.
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
And use much soap,
The stain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
In the time of her heat who can turn her away?
All who seek her will not become weary;
In her month they will find her.
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘It is hopeless!
No! For I have loved strangers,
And after them I will walk.’
So the house of Israel is shamed;
They, their kings, their princes
And their priests and their prophets,
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
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.’
Which you made for yourself?
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.
You have all transgressed against Me,” declares the LORD.
They accepted no chastening.
Your sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam;
We will no longer come to You’?
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have forgotten Me
Days without number.
To seek love!
Therefore even the wicked women
You have taught your ways.
The lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them breaking in.
But in spite of all these things,
Surely His anger is turned away from me.’
Behold, I will enter into judgment with you
Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
Changing your way?
Also, you will be put to shame by Egypt
As you were put to shame by Assyria.
With your hands on your head;
For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
And you will not prosper with them.”