The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 2 Jeremiah is sent to Jerusalem to rebuke it for its rebellion

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 2

Jeremiah is sent to Jerusalem to rebuke it for its rebellion

1 The word of the Lord came to me:

2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I remember the devotion of your youth and the love of your betrothal, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

3 Then Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured them were held guilty; disaster came upon them,’ declares the Lord.

4 “Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you families of the house of Israel:

5 This is what the Lord says: ‘What injustice did your ancestors find in me, that they went far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless.

6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt?”’” Who led us through the desert, through a land of wastelands and pits, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, through a land where no one traveled, and in which no man dwelt.

7 And I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce; but when you entered it, you defiled my land and made my inheritance an abomination.

8 The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” And those who handled the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after that which is of no profit.

9 Therefore I will yet contend with you, declares the Lord; and even with your children’s children I will contend.

10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim and see; and send to Kedar and consider carefully, and see if anything like this has happened.

11 Has any nation ever exchanged its gods, even though they are not gods? Yet my people have exchanged their glory for worthless idols.

12 Be appalled at this, you heavens, and shudder with horror, declares the Lord.

13 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.

14 Is Israel a servant, a slave born in the house? Why then has it become a prey?

15 Young lions roared at it; they raised their voices. They made its land a desolation; its cities were burned with fire, and no one lives in them.

16 Even the people of Noph and Ticpenes broke the crown of your head.

17 Are you not seeking this for yourself, by forsaking the Lord your God when he leads you on the way? 

18 Now then, what does it matter to you to go to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? And what does it matter to you to go to Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?

19 Your wickedness will punish you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing for you to forsake the Lord your God, and not to have the fear of me with you, says the Lord God of hosts.

20 When I had long ago broken your yoke and torn off your bonds, you said, “I will never transgress again”; yet on every high hill and under every green tree you have been crouching and prostrating yourself.

21 I myself planted you as a choice vine, a seed entirely faithful; how then have you turned into a degenerate plant, a strange vine?

22 Therefore, though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Sovereign Lord.

23 How can you say, “I am not defiled; I have not followed the Baals”? Consider your way in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift camel, twisting your paths.

24 You are a wild donkey, accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in the desire of your soul. Who can resist you? Those who seek you will not grow weary; in your month they will find you.

25 Keep your feet from going barefoot and your throat from being thirsty. But you say, “There is no hope,” for I love strangers, and after them I will go.

26 As a thief is put to shame when he is caught, so the house of Israel is put to shame. They, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,

27 Who say to wood, “You are my father,” and to stone, “You gave birth to me”; for they have turned their backs on me, and not their faces, but in the time of their trouble they will say, “Arise, and deliver us.”

28 Where then are your gods, which you made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble; for your gods, O Judah, are as numerous as your cities.

29 Why do you contend with me? You have all transgressed against me, says the Lord.

30 In vain I have punished your children; they have not accepted correction; your sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.

31 O generation! Consider the word of the Lord: Have I been a desert to Israel? Or a land of thick darkness? Why then does my people say, “We have forsaken ourselves from you; we will never see you again”?

32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me for countless days.

33 How you adorn your path to seek love! So that you have even taught the wicked your ways.

34 Even on the edges of your garments is found the blood of the innocent and needy: I ​​did not dig to find it, for it is evident in all these things.

35 Yet you say, “I am innocent; surely his anger has turned away from me.” Behold, I will enter into judgment with you, because you say, “I have not sinned.”

36 Why do you turn aside so much, changing your way? You will also be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.

37 You will also go out from there with your hands on your head; for the Lord has rejected your confidences, and you will not prosper with them.