Jeremiah 2:4–13

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the Lord:

What wrong did your ancestors find in me

that they went far from me

and went after worthless things and became worthless themselves?^*

⁶They did not say, “Where is the Lord,

who brought us up from the land of Egypt,

who led us in the wilderness,

in a land of deserts and pits,

in a land of drought and deep darkness,

in a land that no one passes through,

where no one lives?”^*

⁷I brought you into a plentiful land

to eat its fruits and its good things.

But when you entered you defiled my land

and made my heritage an abomination.^*

⁸The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?”

Those who handle the law did not know me;

the rulers^b transgressed against me;

the prophets prophesied by Baal

and went after things that do not profit.^*

⁹Therefore once more I accuse you,

says the Lord,

and I accuse your children’s children.^*

¹⁰Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look;

send to Kedar and examine with care;

see if there has ever been such a thing.

¹¹Has a nation changed its gods,

even though they are no gods?

But my people have changed their glory

for something that does not profit.^*

¹²Be appalled, O heavens, at this;

be shocked; be utterly desolate,

says the Lord,

¹³for my people have committed two evils:

they have forsaken me,

the fountain of living water,

and dug out cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns

that can hold no water.^*