Jeremiah 2
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Israel Accused of Apostasy
2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says:
I remember the loyalty of your youth,(A)
your love as a bride—
how you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,(B)
the firstfruits of His harvest.(C)
All who ate of it found themselves guilty;(D)
disaster came on them.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob
and all families of the house of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
What fault did your fathers find in Me(E)
that they went so far from Me,
followed worthless idols,(F)
and became worthless themselves?(G)
6 They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord(H)
who brought us from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,(I)
through a land of deserts and ravines,
through a land of drought and darkness,[a]
a land no one traveled through
and where no one lived?”
7 I brought you to a fertile land(J)
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but after you entered, you defiled My land;(K)
you made My inheritance(L) detestable.
8 The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,(M)
and the rulers(N) rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by[b] Baal(O)
and followed useless idols.(P)
9 Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.(Q)
10 Cross over to Cyprus[c](R) and take a look.
Send someone to Kedar(S) and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?(T)
(But they were not gods!(U))
Yet My people have exchanged their[d] Glory
for useless idols.(V)
12 Be horrified at this, heavens;(W)
be shocked and utterly appalled.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 For My people have committed a double evil:
They have abandoned Me,(X)
the fountain of living water,(Y)
and dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.(Z)
Consequences of Apostasy
14 Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?[e]
Why else has he become a prey?
15 The young lions have roared at him;(AA)
they have roared loudly.
They have laid waste his land.(AB)
His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.
16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes(AC)
have also broken your skull.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself(AD)
by abandoning the Lord your God
while He was leading you along the way?
18 Now what will you gain
by traveling along the way to Egypt(AE)
to drink the waters of the Nile?[f]
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria(AF)
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?(AG)
19 Your own evil will discipline you;(AH)
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Think it over and see how evil and bitter(AI) it is
for you to abandon the Lord your God
and to have no fear of Me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord God of Hosts.
20 For long ago I[g] broke your yoke;(AJ)
I[h] tore off your chains.
You insisted, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree(AK)
you lie down like a prostitute.(AL)
21 I planted you, a choice vine(AM)
from the very best seed.
How then could you turn into
a degenerate, foreign vine?(AN)
22 Even if you wash with lye
and use a great amount of soap,(AO)
the stain of your sin is still in front of Me.(AP)
This is the Lord God’s declaration.
23 How can you protest, “I am not defiled;
I have not followed the Baals”?(AQ)
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.(AR)
You are a swift young camel
twisting and turning on her way,
24 a wild donkey(AS) at home[i] in the wilderness.
She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can control her passion?
All who look for her will not become tired;
they will find her in her mating season.[j]
25 Keep your feet from going bare
and your throat from thirst.
But you say, “It’s hopeless;(AT)
I love strangers,(AU)
and I will continue to follow them.”
26 Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,
so the house of Israel has been put to shame.(AV)
They, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets(AW)
27 say to a tree, “You are my father,”
and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
For they have turned their back to Me
and not their face,(AX)
yet in their time of disaster(AY) they beg,
“Rise up and save us!”
28 But where are your gods you made for yourself?
Let them rise up and save you(AZ)
in your time of disaster if they can,
for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.
Judgment Deserved
29 Why do you bring a case against Me?(BA)
All of you have rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
30 I have struck down your children in vain;
they would not accept discipline.(BB)
Your own sword has devoured your prophets(BC)
like a ravaging lion.
31 Evil generation,
pay attention to the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of dense darkness?(BD)
Why do My people claim,
“We will go where we want;[k]
we will no longer come to You”?
32 Can a young woman forget her jewelry(BE)
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet My people have forgotten Me(BF)
for countless days.
33 How skillfully you pursue love;
you also teach evil women your ways.
34 Moreover, your skirts are stained
with the blood of the innocent poor.(BG)
You did not catch them breaking and entering.(BH)
But in spite of all these things
35 you claim, “I am innocent.(BI)
His anger is sure to turn away from me.”
But I will certainly judge you
because you have said, “I have not sinned.”(BJ)
36 How unstable you are,(BK)
constantly changing your ways!
You will be put to shame by Egypt(BL)
just as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 Moreover, you will be led out from here
with your hands on your head(BM)
since the Lord has rejected those you trust;(BN)
you will not succeed even with their help.[l]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 2:6 Or shadow of death
- Jeremiah 2:8 = in the name of
- Jeremiah 2:10 Lit to the islands of Kittim
- Jeremiah 2:11 Ancient Jewish tradition reads My
- Jeremiah 2:14 Lit born of a house
- Jeremiah 2:18 Lit of Shihor
- Jeremiah 2:20 LXX reads you
- Jeremiah 2:20 LXX reads you
- Jeremiah 2:24 Lit donkey taught
- Jeremiah 2:24 Lit her month
- Jeremiah 2:31 Or We have taken control, or We can roam
- Jeremiah 2:37 Lit with them
Jeremiah 2
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Case against His People
2 The Lord gave me another message. He said, 2 “Go and shout this message to Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says:
“I remember how eager you were to please me
as a young bride long ago,
how you loved me and followed me
even through the barren wilderness.
3 In those days Israel was holy to the Lord,
the first of his children.[a]
All who harmed his people were declared guilty,
and disaster fell on them.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
4 Listen to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel! 5 This is what the Lord says:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
that led them to stray so far from me?
They worshiped worthless idols,
only to become worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us safely out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness—
a land of deserts and pits,
a land of drought and death,
where no one lives or even travels?’
7 “And when I brought you into a fruitful land
to enjoy its bounty and goodness,
you defiled my land and
corrupted the possession I had promised you.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who taught my word ignored me,
the rulers turned against me,
and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
wasting their time on worthless idols.
9 Therefore, I will bring my case against you,”
says the Lord.
“I will even bring charges against your children’s children
in the years to come.
10 “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus[b];
go east and search through the land of Kedar.
Has anyone ever heard of anything
as strange as this?
11 Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones,
even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God[c]
for worthless idols!
12 The heavens are shocked at such a thing
and shrink back in horror and dismay,”
says the Lord.
13 “For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me—
the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all!
The Results of Israel’s Sin
14 “Why has Israel become a slave?
Why has he been carried away as plunder?
15 Strong lions have roared against him,
and the land has been destroyed.
The towns are now in ruins,
and no one lives in them anymore.
16 Egyptians, marching from their cities of Memphis[d] and Tahpanhes,
have destroyed Israel’s glory and power.
17 And you have brought this upon yourselves
by rebelling against the Lord your God,
even though he was leading you on the way!
18 “What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt
and your covenants with Assyria?
What good to you are the streams of the Nile[e]
or the waters of the Euphrates River?[f]
19 Your wickedness will bring its own punishment.
Your turning from me will shame you.
You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is
to abandon the Lord your God and not to fear him.
I, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!
20 “Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you
and tore away the chains of your slavery,
but still you said,
‘I will not serve you.’
On every hill and under every green tree,
you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols.
21 But I was the one who planted you,
choosing a vine of the purest stock—the very best.
How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine?
22 No amount of soap or lye can make you clean.
I still see the stain of your guilt.
I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!
Israel, an Unfaithful Wife
23 “You say, ‘That’s not true!
I haven’t worshiped the images of Baal!’
But how can you say that?
Go and look in any valley in the land!
Face the awful sins you have done.
You are like a restless female camel
desperately searching for a mate.
24 You are like a wild donkey,
sniffing the wind at mating time.
Who can restrain her lust?
Those who desire her don’t need to search,
for she goes running to them!
25 When will you stop running?
When will you stop panting after other gods?
But you say, ‘Save your breath.
I’m in love with these foreign gods,
and I can’t stop loving them now!’
26 “Israel is like a thief
who feels shame only when he gets caught.
They, their kings, officials, priests, and prophets—
all are alike in this.
27 To an image carved from a piece of wood they say,
‘You are my father.’
To an idol chiseled from a block of stone they say,
‘You are my mother.’
They turn their backs on me,
but in times of trouble they cry out to me,
‘Come and save us!’
28 But why not call on these gods you have made?
When trouble comes, let them save you if they can!
For you have as many gods
as there are towns in Judah.
29 Why do you accuse me of doing wrong?
You are the ones who have rebelled,”
says the Lord.
30 “I have punished your children,
but they did not respond to my discipline.
You yourselves have killed your prophets
as a lion kills its prey.
31 “O my people, listen to the words of the Lord!
Have I been like a desert to Israel?
Have I been to them a land of darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God!
We don’t need him anymore!’
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
or a bride her wedding dress?
Yet for years on end
my people have forgotten me.
33 “How you plot and scheme to win your lovers.
Even an experienced prostitute could learn from you!
34 Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor,
though you didn’t catch them breaking into your houses!
35 And yet you say,
‘I have done nothing wrong.
Surely God isn’t angry with me!’
But now I will punish you severely
because you claim you have not sinned.
36 First here, then there—
you flit from one ally to another asking for help.
But your new friends in Egypt will let you down,
just as Assyria did before.
37 In despair, you will be led into exile
with your hands on your heads,
for the Lord has rejected the nations you trust.
They will not help you at all.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
