Jeremiah 2:1–7

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