Jeremiah 2:4–13

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob

and all families of the house of Israel.

⁵This is what the Lord says:

What fault did your ancestors find in me^a

that they went so far from me,

followed worthless idols,^b

and became worthless themselves?^c

⁶They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord^d

who brought us from the land of Egypt,

who led us through the wilderness,^e

through a land of deserts and ravines,

through a land of drought and darkness,^A

a land no one traveled through

and where no one lived?”

⁷I brought you to a fertile land^f

to eat its fruit and bounty,

but after you entered, you defiled my land;^g

you made my inheritance^h detestable.

⁸The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”

The experts in the law no longer knew me,ⁱ

and the rulers^j rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by^B Baal^k

and followed useless idols.^l

⁹Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

I will bring a case against your children’s children.^m

¹⁰Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus^Cn and take a look.

Send someone to Kedar^o and consider carefully;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

¹¹Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?^p

(But they were not gods!^q)

Yet my people have exchanged their^A Glory

for useless idols.^r

¹²Be appalled at this, heavens;^s

be shocked and utterly desolated!

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹³For my people have committed a double evil:

They have abandoned me,^t

the fountain of living water,^u

and dug cisterns for themselves—

cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.^v