The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Jeremiah 02
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of
Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says,
“I remember for you the kindness of your
youth, your love as a bride,
how you went after me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to Yahweh,
the first fruits of his increase.
All who devour him will be held guilty.
Evil will come on them,” ’ says Yahweh.”
4 Hear Yahweh’s word, O house of Jacob,
and all the families of the house of Israel!
5 Yahweh says, “What unrighteousness have your fathers
found in me, that they have gone far from me,
and have walked after worthless vanity,
and have become worthless?
6 They didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh 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 the
shadow of death, through a land that no one passed
through, and where no man lived?’
7 I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruit and its goodness;
but when you entered, you defiled my
land, and made my heritage an abomination.
8The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’
and those who handle the law didn’t
know me. The rulers also transgressed against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,”
says Yahweh, “and I will contend with your children’s children.
10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and
see. Send to Kedar, and consider diligently,
and see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
which really are no gods?
But my people have changed their
glory for that which doesn’t profit.
12 “Be astonished, you heavens, at this
and be horribly afraid. Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.
13 “For my people have committed two
evils: hey have forsaken me, the spring of
living waters, and cut out cisterns for themselves:
broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
14 Is Israel a slave? Is he born into slavery?
Why has he become a captive?
15 The young lions have roared at him and
raised their voices. They have made his land waste.
His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
16 The children also of Memphis and
Tahpanhes have broken the crown
of your head.
17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself,
in that you have forsaken Yahweh
your God,† when he led you by the way?
18 Now what do you gain by going to Egypt,
to drink the waters of the Shihor?
Or why do you go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the
River?‡
19 “Your own wickedness will correct you,
and your backsliding will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil
and bitter thing, that you have forsaken Yahweh your
God, and thatmy fear isnotinyou,” says the
Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
20 “For long ago I broke off your yoke,
and burst your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve;’
for on every high hill and under every
green tree you bowed yourself,
playing the prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
a pure and faithful seed.
How then have you turned into the degenerate
branches of a foreign vine to me?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye,
and use much soap,
yet your iniquity is marked before
me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled.
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley.
Know what you have done.
You are a swift dromedary
traversing her ways,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
that sniffs the wind in her craving.
When she is in heat, who can turn her
away? All those who seek her will not weary
themselves. In her month, they will
find her.
25 “Keep your feet from being bare,
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is in vain.
No, for I have loved strangers,
and I will go after them.’
26 As the thiefis ashamed whenhe is found,
so the house of Israel is ashamed—
they, their kings, their princes, their
priests, and their prophets,
27 who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’
and a stone, ‘You have given birth to
me, 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!’
28 “But where are your gods that you have
made for yourselves? Let them arise, if
they can save you in the time of your
trouble, for you have as many gods as you have
towns, O Judah.
29 “Why will you contend with me?
You all have transgressed against me,”
says Yahweh.
30 “I have struck your children in vain.
They received no correction.
Your own sword has devoured your
prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 Generation, consider Yahweh’s word.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel?
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We have broken
loose. We will come to you no more’?
32 “Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me for
days without number.
33 How well you prepare your way to seek
love! Therefore you have even taught the
wicked women your ways.
34 Also the blood of the souls of the
innocent poor is found in your skirts.
You didn’t find them breaking in,
but it is because of all these things.
35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent.
Surely his anger has turned away
from me.’ “Behold, I will judge you,
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why do you go about so much to change
your ways? You will be ashamed of Egypt also,
as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 You will also leave that place with your
hands on your head; for Yahweh has rejected those in
whom you trust, and you won’t prosper with them.