Jeremiah 2:4–13

⁴Listen to the Lord’s word, descendants of Jacob, 

all the families in the nation of Israel. 

⁵This 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. 

⁶They 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.” 

⁷I brought them into a fertile land 

to eat its fruit and its produce. 

They came and made my land unclean.^a

They made my property disgusting. 

⁸The 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. 

⁹“That is why I am bringing charges against you,” declares the Lord, 

“and I am bringing charges against your grandchildren. 

¹⁰Go over to the coasts of Cyprus, and see. 

Send ⸤someone⸥ to Kedar, and observe closely. 

See if there has ever been anything like this. 

¹¹Has 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. 

¹²Be horrified over this, heaven. 

Be terribly afraid,” declares the Lord. 

¹³“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.