Jeremiah 2–6

Israel Forsakes God

2The wordⁿ 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,^o

how as a bride you loved me

and followed me through the wilderness,^p

through a land not sown.

³Israel was holy^q to the Lord,^r

the firstfruits^s of his harvest;

all who devoured^t her were held guilty,^u

and disaster overtook them,’ ”

declares the Lord.

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,

all you clans of Israel.

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,

that they strayed so far from me?

They followed worthless idols^v

and became worthless^w themselves.

⁶They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,

who brought us up out of Egypt^x

and led us through the barren wilderness,

through a land of deserts^y and ravines,^z

a land of drought and utter darkness,

a land where no one travels^a and no one lives?’

⁷I brought you into a fertile land

to eat its fruit and rich produce.^b

But you came and defiled my land

and made my inheritance detestable.^c

⁸The priests did not ask,

‘Where is the Lord?’

Those who deal with the law did not know me;^d

the leaders^e rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by Baal,^f

following worthless idols.^g

⁹“Therefore I bring charges^h against you again,”

declares the Lord.

“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.

¹⁰Cross over to the coasts of Cyprusⁱ and look,

send to Kedar^aj and observe closely;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

¹¹Has a nation ever changed its gods?

(Yet they are not gods^k at all.)

But my people have exchanged their glorious^l God

for worthless idols.

¹²Be appalled at this, you heavens,

and shudder with great horror,”

declares the Lord.

¹³“My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken^m me,

the spring of living water,ⁿ

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

¹⁴Is Israel a servant, a slave^o by birth?

Why then has he become plunder?

¹⁵Lions^p have roared;

they have growled at him.

They have laid waste^q his land;

his towns are burned^r and deserted.^s

¹⁶Also, the men of Memphis^t and Tahpanhes^u

have cracked your skull.

¹⁷Have you not brought this on yourselves^v

by forsaking^w the Lord your God

when he led you in the way?

¹⁸Now why go to Egypt^x

to drink water from the Nile^b?^y

And why go to Assyria^z

to drink water from the Euphrates?^a

¹⁹Your wickedness will punish you;

your backsliding^b will rebuke^c you.

Consider then and realize

how evil and bitter^d it is for you

when you forsake^e the Lord your God

and have no awe^f of me,”

declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

²⁰“Long ago you broke off your yoke^g

and tore off your bonds;^h

you said, ‘I will not serve you!’ⁱ

Indeed, on every high hill^j

and under every spreading tree^k

you lay down as a prostitute.^l

²¹I had planted^m you like a choice vineⁿ

of sound and reliable stock.

How then did you turn against me

into a corrupt,^o wild vine?

²²Although you wash^p yourself with soap^q

and use an abundance of cleansing powder,

the stain of your guilt is still before me,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.^r

²³“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;^s

I have not run after the Baals’?^t

See how you behaved in the valley;^u

consider what you have done.

You are a swift she-camel

running^v here and there,

²⁴a wild donkey^w accustomed to the desert,^x

sniffing the wind in her craving—

in her heat who can restrain her?

Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;

at mating time they will find her.

²⁵Do not run until your feet are bare

and your throat is dry.

But you said, ‘It’s no use!^y

I love foreign gods,^z

and I must go after them.’^a

²⁶“As a thief is disgraced^b when he is caught,

so the people of Israel are disgraced—

they, their kings and their officials,

their priests^c and their prophets.^d

²⁷They say to wood,^e ‘You are my father,’

and to stone,^f ‘You gave me birth.’

They have turned their backs^g to me

and not their faces;^h

yet when they are in trouble,ⁱ they say,

‘Come and save^j us!’

²⁸Where then are the gods^k you made for yourselves?

Let them come if they can save you

when you are in trouble!^l

For you, Judah, have as many gods

as you have towns.^m

²⁹“Why do you bring charges against me?

You have allⁿ rebelled against me,”

declares the Lord.

³⁰“In vain I punished your people;

they did not respond to correction.^o

Your sword has devoured your prophets^p

like a ravenous lion.

³¹“You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

“Have I been a desert to Israel

or a land of great darkness?^q

Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;

we will come to you no more’?^r

³²Does a young woman forget her jewelry,

a bride her wedding ornaments?

Yet my people have forgotten^s me,

days without number.

³³How skilled you are at pursuing^t love!

Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.

³⁴On your clothes is found

the lifeblood^u of the innocent poor,

though you did not catch them breaking in.^v

Yet in spite of all this

³⁵you say, ‘I am innocent;^w

he is not angry with me.’

But I will pass judgment^x on you

because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’^y

³⁶Why do you go about so much,

changing^z your ways?

You will be disappointed by Egypt^a

as you were by Assyria.

³⁷You will also leave that place

with your hands on your head,^b

for the Lord has rejected those you trust;

you will not be helped^c by them.

3“If a man divorces^d his wife

and she leaves him and marries another man,

should he return to her again?

Would not the land be completely defiled?^e

But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers^f—

would you now return to me?”^g

declares the Lord.

²“Look up to the barren heights^h and see.

Is there any place where you have not been ravished?

By the roadsideⁱ you sat waiting for lovers,

sat like a nomad in the desert.

You have defiled the land^j

with your prostitution^k and wickedness.

³Therefore the showers have been withheld,^l

and no spring rains^m have fallen.

Yet you have the brazenⁿ look of a prostitute;

you refuse to blush with shame.^o

⁴Have you not just called to me:

‘My Father,^p my friend from my youth,^q

⁵will you always be angry?^r

Will your wrath continue forever?’

This is how you talk,

but you do all the evil you can.”

Unfaithful Israel

⁶During the reign of King Josiah,^s the Lord said to me, “Have you seen what faithless^t Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree^u and has committed adultery^v there. ⁷I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister^w Judah saw it.^{x 8}I gave faithless Israel^y her certificate of divorce^z and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear;^a she also went out and committed adultery. ⁹Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land^b and committed adultery^c with stone^d and wood.^{e 10}In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return^f to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,^g” declares the Lord.^h

¹¹The Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel is more righteousⁱ than unfaithful^j Judah.^{k 12}Go, proclaim this message toward the north:^l

“ ‘Return,^m faithlessⁿ Israel,’ declares the Lord,

‘I will frown on you no longer,

for I am faithful,’^o declares the Lord,

‘I will not be angry^p forever.

¹³Only acknowledge^q your guilt—

you have rebelled against the Lord your God,

you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^r

under every spreading tree,^s

and have not obeyed^t me,’ ”

declares the Lord.

¹⁴“Return,^u faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.^v I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. ¹⁵Then I will give you shepherds^w after my own heart,^x who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark^y of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;^z it will not be missed, nor will another one be made. ¹⁷At that time they will call Jerusalem The Throne^a of the Lord, and all nations^b will gather in Jerusalem to honor^c the name of the Lord. No longer will they follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^{d 18}In those days the people of Judah will join the people of Israel,^e and together^f they will come from a northern^g land to the land^h I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.

¹⁹“I myself said,

“ ‘How gladly would I treat you like my children

and give you a pleasant land,ⁱ

the most beautiful inheritance^j of any nation.’

I thought you would call me ‘Father’^k

and not turn away from following me.

²⁰But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,

so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^l to me,”

declares the Lord.

²¹A cry is heard on the barren heights,^m

the weepingⁿ and pleading of the people of Israel,

because they have perverted their ways

and have forgotten^o the Lord their God.

²²“Return,^p faithless people;

I will cure^q you of backsliding.”^r

“Yes, we will come to you,

for you are the Lord our God.

²³Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^s

and mountains is a deception;

surely in the Lord our God

is the salvation^t of Israel.

²⁴From our youth shameful^u gods have consumed

the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—

their flocks and herds,

their sons and daughters.

²⁵Let us lie down in our shame,^v

and let our disgrace cover us.

We have sinned^w against the Lord our God,

both we and our ancestors;^x

from our youth^y till this day

we have not obeyed^z the Lord our God.”

4“If you, Israel, will return,^a

then return to me,”

declares the Lord.

“If you put your detestable idols^b out of my sight

and no longer go astray,

²and if in a truthful, just and righteous way

you swear,^c ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’^d

then the nations will invoke blessings^e by him

and in him they will boast.^f”

³This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground^g

and do not sow among thorns.^h

⁴Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,

circumcise your hearts,ⁱ

you…