Jeremiah 2
Lexham English Bible
Yahweh Remembers Israel’s Faithfulness
2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,[a] 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying,[b] ‘Thus says Yahweh,
“I remember concerning you the loyal love of your childhood,[c]
the love of your betrothal-time,
your going[d] after me in the desert,[e]
in the land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to Yahweh,
the first fruit of his produce.
All those who ate it were held guilty;
disaster came to them,” declares[f] Yahweh.’”
The Unfaithfulness of Israel’s Ancestors
4 Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the clans[g] of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says Yahweh:
“What injustice did your ancestors[h] find in me
that they were far from me,
and they went after the vanity,
and they became vain?
6 And they did not say,
‘Where is Yahweh,
the one who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
the one who led us in the desert,[i]
in a land of desert plains and gorges,[j]
in a land of dryness and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,[k]
and no human lives there?’
7 And I brought you to the land of the orchard,
to eat its fruit, and its good things.[l]
But you entered and defiled my land,
and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.[m]
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’
and those who handle the law did not know me,
and the shepherds have rebelled against me,[n]
and the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and they went after things which do not profit.
The Unfaithfulness of Contemporary Israel
9 Therefore[o] I again bring a lawsuit against you,” declares[p] Yahweh,
“and with your children[q] I bring a lawsuit.
10 For go over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,
and send to Kedar and consider very closely,
and see if there has been a thing like this:
11 Has a nation exchanged gods? And they are not gods!
But my people have exchanged their glory for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, and shudder;
be utterly desolate,” declares[r] Yahweh.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the source[s] of living water,
to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a slave? Or a slave born in a house?[t]
Why has he become plunder?
15 The young lions have roared against him,
they have raised[u] their voices.[v]
And they have made his land as horror;
his cities are destroyed, without[w] an inhabitant.
16 Moreover, people of Memphis and Tahpanhes
will shave[x] your skull.[y]
17 Did you not do this to yourself,
by forsaking Yahweh, your God,
at the time of your leading in the way?
18 And now why do you go[z] the way of Egypt
to drink the waters of the Shihor?
And why do you go[aa] the way of Assyria
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?[ab]
19 Your wickedness will chastise you,
and your apostasies will reprove you.
Therefore know and see that it is evil and bitter,
your forsaking of Yahweh, your God,
and fear of me is not in you,”
declares[ac] the Lord, Yahweh of hosts.
20 “For from long ago you have broken your yoke,
you tore to pieces your bonds.
And you said, ‘I will not serve!’
But on every high hill and under every leafy tree
you were lying down as a prostitute.
21 Yet I planted you as a choice vine,
all of it a seed of trustworthiness.
How then have you altered before me
into something that is degenerate, the foreign vine?
22 For if you wash with natron,
and you use much soap,[ad]
your guilt is sticking as a stain before[ae] me,”
declares[af] the Lord Yahweh.
23 “How can you say, ‘I have not defiled myself,
I have not gone after the Baals?’
Look at your way in the valley,
know what you have done.
You are a young she-camel,
interweaving her ways.
24 A wild ass accustomed to the desert,[ag]
in the desire of her soul.
She gasps for wind in her rutting time.
Who can quell[ah] her lust?
All those who seek her will not grow weary,
in her month they will find her.
25 Restrain your foot from being barefoot,
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless.
No! For I have loved strangers,
and after them I will go.’[ai]
26 As the shame of a thief when he is caught in the act,
so the house of Israel will be ashamed.
They, their kings, their officials,
and their priests, and their prophets.
27 Those who say to the tree, ‘You are my father,’
and to the stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their backs[aj] to me, and not their faces.
But in the time of their trouble they say, ‘Arise and save us.’
28 But where are your gods that you made for yourself?
Let them arise if they can save you in the time of your trouble.
For according to the number of your towns
are your gods, O Judah.
29 Why do you complain to me?
All of you have rebelled against me,”[ak] declares[al] Yahweh.
30 “For in vain[am] I have struck your children.
They accepted no discipline.
Your sword devoured your prophets,
like a ravening[an] lion.
31 O generation, you see the word of Yahweh.
Have I been a desert[ao] to Israel? Or a land of great darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We roam about freely,
we will not come again to you’?
32 Can a young woman forget her ornaments?[ap] Or a bride her sashes?
Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33 How well you do on your way to seek love!
Therefore[aq] even to the wicked woman you can teach your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
the blood of the life of the innocent, the poor.
You did not find them in the act of breaking into a house.
But in spite of all these things,
35 yet you say, ‘But I am innocent,
surely his anger has turned away from me.’
Look, I am entering into judgment with you
because of your saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 How you go about so much changing your way!
Also by Egypt you will be put to shame,
just as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 Also from there you will come out
with your hands on your head,
for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust,[ar]
and you will not prosper through them.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 2:1 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 2:2 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 2:2 Or “youth”
- Jeremiah 2:2 Or “walking”
- Jeremiah 2:2 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 2:3 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:4 Or “families”
- Jeremiah 2:5 Or “fathers”
- Jeremiah 2:6 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 2:6 Hebrew “gorge”
- Jeremiah 2:6 Literally “no man passes through in it”
- Jeremiah 2:7 Hebrew “good thing”
- Jeremiah 2:7 Or “abomination”
- Jeremiah 2:8 Literally “broken with me”
- Jeremiah 2:9 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 2:9 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:9 Literally “sons of your sons”
- Jeremiah 2:12 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:13 Or “fountain”
- Jeremiah 2:14 Literally “born of a house”
- Jeremiah 2:15 Literally “given”
- Jeremiah 2:15 Hebrew “voice”
- Jeremiah 2:15 Literally “from not”
- Jeremiah 2:16 Literally “pasture”
- Jeremiah 2:16 Or “crown of your head”
- Jeremiah 2:18 Literally “what for you”
- Jeremiah 2:18 Literally “what for you”
- Jeremiah 2:18 Literally “river”
- Jeremiah 2:19 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “make numerous for yourself alkaline salt”
- Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 2:22 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:24 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 2:24 Or “restrain”
- Jeremiah 2:25 Or “walk”
- Jeremiah 2:27 Literally “neck”
- Jeremiah 2:29 Literally “broken with me”
- Jeremiah 2:29 Literally “a declaration of”
- Jeremiah 2:30 Literally “the vanity”
- Jeremiah 2:30 Or “destroying”
- Jeremiah 2:31 Or “wilderness”
- Jeremiah 2:32 Or “jewelry”
- Jeremiah 2:33 Literally “To thus”
- Jeremiah 2:37 Literally “in your objects of trust”
Jeremiah 2
World English Bible
2 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says,
“I remember for you the kindness of your youth,
the love of your weddings;
how you went after me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to Yahweh,
the first fruits of his increase.
All who devour him will be held guilty.
Evil will come on them,”’ says Yahweh.”
4 Hear Yahweh’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5 Yahweh says,
“What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
that they have gone far from me,
and have walked after worthless vanity,
and have become worthless?
6 They didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no one passed through,
and where no man lived?’
7 I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruit and its goodness;
but when you entered, you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’
and those who handle the law didn’t know me.
The rulers also transgressed against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh,
“and I will contend with your children’s children.
10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see.
Send to Kedar, and consider diligently,
and see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
which really are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit.
12 “Be astonished, you heavens, at this
and be horribly afraid.
Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters,
and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
14 Is Israel a slave?
Is he born into slavery?
Why has he become a captive?
15 The young lions have roared at him and yelled.
They have made his land waste.
His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
16 The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.
17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself,
in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God,[a] when he led you by the way?
18 Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor?
Or why do you to go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?[b]
19 “Your own wickedness will correct you,
and your backsliding will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,
that you have forsaken Yahweh your God,
and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
20 “For long ago I broke off your yoke,
and burst your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve;’
for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself,
playing the prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
a pure and faithful seed.
How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye,
and use much soap,
yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled.
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley.
Know what you have done.
You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways, 24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving.
When she is in heat, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.
25 “Keep your feet from being bare,
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is in vain.
No, for I have loved strangers,
and I will go after them.’
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
so the house of Israel is ashamed:
they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,
27 who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’
and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’
for they have turned their back to me,
and not their face;
but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’
28 “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble;
for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
29 “Why will you contend with me?
You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.
30 “I have struck your children in vain.
They received no correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets,
like a destroying lion.
31 Generation, consider Yahweh’s word.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel?
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose.
We will come to you no more’?
32 “Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
33 How well you prepare your way to seek love!
Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways.
34 Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts.
You didn’t find them breaking in,
but it is because of all these things.
35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent.
Surely his anger has turned away from me.’
“Behold, I will judge you,
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why do you go about so much to change your ways?
You will be ashamed of Egypt also,
as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 You will also leave that place with your hands on your head;
for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you won’t prosper with them.
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