Jeremiah 2–6

2Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember ^||thee, the kindness of ^athy youth, ^bthe love of thine espousals, ^cwhen thou wentest after me in the wilderness, ^din a land that was not sown. ^3eIsrael was holiness unto the Lord, and ^fthe firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him ^gshall offend; ^hevil shall come upon them, saith the Lord. ⁴Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: ⁵Thus saith the Lord, ⁱWhat iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and ^khave walked after ^lvanity, and ^kmare become vain? ⁶Neither said they, Where is the Lord ⁿthat brought us up out of the land of Egypt, ^othat led us through the wilderness, through ^pa land of deserts and of ^qpits, through ^pa land of ^rdrought, and of ^sthe shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? ⁷And I brought you into ^||ta plentiful country, to eat ^uthe fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye ^vdefiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. ⁸The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and ^wthey that handle the law knew me not: ^xthe pastors also transgressed against me, and ^xxthe prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after ^ythings that do not profit. ⁹Wherefore I ^zwill yet plead with you, saith the Lord, and ^awith your children’s children will I plead. ^10aaFor pass ^||over the isles of ^bChittim, and see; and send unto ^cKedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. ^11dHath a nation changed their gods, ^ewhich are yet no gods? but my people ^fhave changed their glory for ^gthat which doth not profit. ¹²Be astonished, ^hO ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. ¹³For my people have committed two evils; ^ikthey have forsaken me ^klthe fountain of ^mliving waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

¹⁴ⁿIs Israel a servant? is he ^oa homeborn slave? why is he ^†spoiled? ^15pThe young lions roared upon him, and ^†yelled, and ^qthey made his land waste: ^rhis cities are burned ^qswithout inhabitant. ¹⁶Also the children of ^tNoph and ^uTahapanes ^||have broken the crown of thy head. ^17wHast thou not procured this unto thyself, ⁱin that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, ^xwhen he led thee by the way? ¹⁸And now ^ywhat hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of ^zSihor? or ^awhat hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of ^bthe river? ^19cThine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy ^dbackslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and ^ebitter, ^fthat thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. ²⁰For of old time ^gI have broken thy yoke, and ^gburst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not ^||transgress; when ^hiupon every high hill and under every green tree ^kthou wanderest, ^ilplaying the harlot. ²¹Yet ^mI had planted thee ⁿa noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into ^othe degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? ²²For though ^pthou wash thee with ^qnitre, and take thee much ^rsoap, yet thine iniquity is ^smarked before me, saith the Lord God. ^23tHow canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way ^ttin the valley, know what thou hast done: ^||thou art ^ua swift ^uudromedary traversing her ways; ^24||vwA wild ass ^†used to the wilderness, that ^vsnuffeth up the wind at ^†her pleasure; in her ^xoccasion who can ^||turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; ^yin her month they shall find her. ²⁵Withhold ^zthy foot from being unshod, and thy throat ^afrom thirst: ^bbut thou saidst, ^||cThere is no hope: no; for I have loved ^dstrangers, and after them will I go. ²⁶As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, ^ddtheir kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, ²⁷Saying to ^ea stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast ^||brought me forth: for they have turned ^†their back unto me, and not their face: but ^eein the time of their ^ftrouble they will say, Arise, and save us. ²⁸But ^gwhere are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, ^hif they can save thee in the time of thy ^†ftrouble: ⁱfor according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. ^29kWherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord. ³⁰In vain ^lhave I smitten your children; they received no correction: ^myour own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.

³¹ⁿO generation, see ye the word of the Lord. ^oHave I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, ^†pWe are lords; we will come no more unto thee? ³²Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her ^qattire? yet ^rmy people have forgotten me days without number. ³³Why ^rrtrimmest thou thy way to seek love? ^stherefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. ³⁴Also in thy skirts is found ^tthe blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by ^†secret search, but upon all these. ³⁵Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, ^uI will plead with thee, ^vbecause thou sayest, I have not sinned. ^36wWhy gaddest thou about so much to ^xchange thy way? ^ythou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, ^was thou wast ashamed of Assyria. ³⁷Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and ^zthine hands upon thine head: for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them.

3^†They say, ^aIf a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, ^ashall he return unto her again? shall not that ^bland be greatly polluted? but thou hast ^cplayed the harlot with many lovers; yet ^dreturn again to me, saith the Lord. ²Lift up thine eyes unto ^ethe high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. ^fIn the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and ^bthou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. ³Therefore ^gthe showers have been withholden, and there hath been no ^hlatter rain; and thou hadst ⁱa whore’s forehead, ^kthou refusedst to be ashamed. ⁴Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art ^lthe guide of ^mmy youth? ⁵ⁿWill he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.

^6*The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which ^obacksliding Israel hath done? ^pshe is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath ^cplayed the harlot. ^7qAnd I said after she had done all these things, ^dTurn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her ^rtreacherous ^ssister Judah saw it. ⁸And I saw, ^twhen for all the causes whereby ^obacksliding Israel committed adultery ^uI had put her away, and given her ^va bill of divorce; ^tyet her ^rtreacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. ⁹And it came to pass through the ^||lightness of her whoredom, that ^bshe defiled the land, and committed adultery with ^wstones and with stocks. ¹⁰And yet for all this her ^rtreacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me ^xwith her whole heart, but ^†feignedly, saith the Lord. ¹¹And the Lord said unto me, The ^obacksliding Israel ^yhath justified herself more than ^rtreacherous Judah. ¹²Go and proclaim these words toward ^zthe north, and say, ^dReturn, thou ^obacksliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not ^acause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am ^bmerciful, saith the Lord, and ^cI will not keep anger for ever. ^13dOnly acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast ^escattered thy ways to the ^fstrangers ^gunder every green tree, and ^hye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. ¹⁴ⁱTurn, ^jO backsliding children, saith the Lord; for ^kI am married unto you: and I will take you ^lone of a city, and ^mtwo of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: ¹⁵And ⁿI will give you ^opastors according to mine heart, ^pwhich shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it ^†come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall ^||that be done any more. ¹⁷At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and ^qall the nations shall be gathered unto it, ^rto the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither ^sshall they walk any more after the ^||imagination of their evil heart. ¹⁸In those days ^tthe house of Judah shall walk ^||with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of ^uthe north to ^vthe land that I have ^||given for an inheritance unto your fathers. ¹⁹But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a ^†pleasant land, ^†a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, ^xThou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away ^†from me. ²⁰Surely as a wife ^xxtreacherously departeth from her ^†husband, so ^yhave ye ^xxdealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.

²¹A voice was heard upon ^zthe high places, weeping and ^asupplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and ^bthey have forgotten the Lord their God. ^22cReturn, ye backsliding children, and I ^dwill heal your ^ebackslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God. ²³Truly in vain is salvation hoped for ^ffrom the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly ^gin the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. ²⁴For ^hshame hath devoured ⁱthe labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵We lie down in our shame, and ^jour confusion covereth us: for ^kwe have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, …