Jeremiah 2:4–13

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.