Jeremiah 2
English Standard Version
Israel Forsakes the Lord
2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,
“I remember the devotion of (A)your youth,
your love (B)as a bride,
(C)how you followed me in the wilderness,
(D)in a land not sown.
3 (E)Israel was holy to the Lord,
(F)the firstfruits of his harvest.
(G)All who ate of it incurred guilt;
disaster came upon them,
declares the Lord.”
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord:
(H)“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
(I)and went after (J)worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, (K)‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us (L)in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7 (M)And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, (N)you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
(O)Those who handle the law did not know me;
(P)the shepherds[a] transgressed against me;
(Q)the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after (R)things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore (S)I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and (T)with your children's children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of (U)Cyprus and see,
or send to (V)Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11 (W)Has a nation changed its gods,
(X)even though they are no gods?
But my people (Y)have changed their glory
for (Z)that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, (AA)O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
(AB)they have forsaken (AC)me,
the fountain of (AD)living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
14 (AE)“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
Why then has he become a prey?
15 (AF)The lions have roared against him;
they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
his cities are in ruins, (AG)without inhabitant.
16 Moreover, the men of (AH)Memphis and (AI)Tahpanhes
(AJ)have shaved[b] the crown of your head.
17 (AK)Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the Lord your God,
when (AL)he led you in the way?
18 (AM)And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
to drink the waters of (AN)the Nile?
(AO)Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
to drink the waters of (AP)the Euphrates?[c]
19 (AQ)Your evil will chastise you,
and (AR)your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and (AS)bitter
for (AT)you to forsake the Lord your God;
the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.
20 “For long ago I (AU)broke your yoke
and burst your bonds;
but you said, (AV)‘I will not serve.’
Yes, (AW)on every high hill
and under every green tree
you bowed down (AX)like a whore.
21 (AY)Yet I planted you a choice vine,
wholly of pure seed.
(AZ)How then have you turned degenerate
and become a wild vine?
22 Though you wash yourself with lye
and use much soap,
(BA)the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
23 (BB)How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way (BC)in the valley;
know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
24 (BD)a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
in her month they will find her.
25 Keep (BE)your feet from going unshod
and (BF)your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
(BG)for I have loved foreigners,
and after them I will go.’
26 “As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
(BH)they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets,
27 who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
and not their face.
But (BI)in the time of their trouble they say,
‘Arise and save us!’
28 But (BJ)where are your gods
that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, (BK)if they can save you,
in your time of trouble;
for (BL)as many as your cities
are your gods, O Judah.
29 “Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
30 In vain have I (BM)struck your children;
they took no correction;
(BN)your own sword devoured your prophets
like a ravening lion.
31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
we will come no more to you’?
32 (BO)Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet (BP)my people have forgotten me
days without number.
33 “How well you direct your course
to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
you have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
(BQ)the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them (BR)breaking in.
Yet in spite of all these things
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
surely his anger has turned from me.’
(BS)Behold, I will bring you to judgment
for (BT)saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 (BU)How much you go about,
changing your way!
You shall be (BV)put to shame by Egypt
as you were put to shame by Assyria.
37 From it too you will come away
with (BW)your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you will not prosper by them.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 2:8 Or rulers
- Jeremiah 2:16 Hebrew grazed
- Jeremiah 2:18 Hebrew the River
Jeremiah 2
The Message
Israel Was God’s Holy Choice
2 1-3 God’s Message came to me. It went like this:
“Get out in the streets and call to Jerusalem,
‘God’s Message!
I remember your youthful loyalty,
our love as newlyweds.
You stayed with me through the wilderness years,
stuck with me through all the hard places.
Israel was God’s holy choice,
the pick of the crop.
Anyone who laid a hand on her
would soon wish he hadn’t!’”
God’s Decree.
* * *
4-6 Hear God’s Message, House of Jacob!
Yes, you—House of Israel!
God’s Message: “What did your ancestors find fault with in me
that they drifted so far from me,
Took up with Sir Windbag
and turned into windbags themselves?
It never occurred to them to say, ‘Where’s God,
the God who got us out of Egypt,
Who took care of us through thick and thin, those rough-and-tumble
wilderness years of parched deserts and death valleys,
A land that no one who enters comes out of,
a cruel, inhospitable land?’
7-8 “I brought you to a garden land
where you could eat lush fruit.
But you barged in and polluted my land,
trashed and defiled my dear land.
The priests never thought to ask, ‘Where’s God?’
The religion experts knew nothing of me.
The rulers defied me.
The prophets preached god Baal
And chased empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.
9-11 “Because of all this, I’m bringing charges against you”
—God’s Decree—
“charging you and your children and your grandchildren.
Look around. Have you ever seen anything quite like this?
Sail to the western islands and look.
Travel to the Kedar wilderness and look.
Look closely. Has this ever happened before,
That a nation has traded in its gods
for gods that aren’t even close to gods?
But my people have traded my Glory
for empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.
12-13 “Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see!
Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can’t be!”
God’s Decree.
“My people have committed a compound sin:
they’ve walked out on me, the fountain
Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns—
cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.
14-17 “Isn’t Israel a valued servant,
born into a family with place and position?
So how did she end up a piece of meat
fought over by snarling and roaring lions?
There’s nothing left of her but a few old bones,
her towns trashed and deserted.
Egyptians from the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have broken your skulls.
And why do you think all this has happened?
Isn’t it because you walked out on your God
just as he was beginning to lead you in the right way?
18-19 “And now, what do you think you’ll get by going off to Egypt?
Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water?
Or what do you think you’ll get by going off to Assyria?
Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water?
Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that’s what you’ll get.
You’ll pay dearly for your disloyal ways.
Take a long, hard look at what you’ve done and its bitter results.
Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?”
God’s Decree, Master God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Addicted to Alien Gods
20-22 “A long time ago you broke out of the harness.
You shook off all restraints.
You said, ‘I will not serve!’
and off you went,
Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way,
like a common whore.
You were a select vine when I planted you
from completely reliable stock.
And look how you’ve turned out—
a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine.
Scrub, using the strongest soaps.
Scour your skin raw.
The sin-grease won’t come out. I can’t stand to even look at you!”
God’s Decree, the Master’s Decree.
23-24 “How dare you tell me, ‘I’m not stained by sin.
I’ve never chased after the Baal sex gods’!
Well, look at the tracks you’ve left behind in the valley.
How do you account for what is written in the desert dust—
Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that,
tracks of a wild donkey in rut,
Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex.
Who could possibly corral her!
On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex—
insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.
25 “Slow down. Take a deep breath. What’s the hurry?
Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway?
But you say, ‘I can’t help it.
I’m addicted to alien gods. I can’t quit.’
* * *
26-28 “Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught,
so the people of Israel are chagrined,
Caught along with their kings and princes,
their priests and prophets.
They walk up to a tree and say, ‘My father!’
They pick up a stone and say, ‘My mother! You bore me!’
All I ever see of them is their backsides.
They never look me in the face.
But when things go badly, they don’t hesitate to come running,
calling out, ‘Get a move on! Save us!’
Why not go to your handcrafted gods you’re so fond of?
Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times.
You’ve got more gods, Judah,
than you know what to do with.
Trying Out Another Sin-Project
29-30 “What do you have against me,
running off to assert your ‘independence’?”
God’s Decree.
“I’ve wasted my time trying to train your children.
They’ve paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline.
And you’ve gotten rid of your God-messengers,
treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.
31-32 “What a generation you turned out to be!
Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I warn you?
Have I let you down, Israel?
Am I nothing but a dead-end street?
Why do my people say, ‘Good riddance!
From now on we’re on our own’?
Young women don’t forget their jewelry, do they?
Brides don’t show up without their veils, do they?
But my people forget me.
Day after day after day they never give me a thought.
* * *
33-35 “What an impressive start you made
to get the most out of life.
You founded schools of sin,
taught graduate courses in evil!
And now you’re sending out graduates, resplendent in cap and gown—
except the gowns are stained with the blood of your victims!
All that blood convicts you.
You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are.
And yet you have the nerve to say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.
God doesn’t mind. He hasn’t punished me, has he?’
Don’t look now, but judgment’s on the way,
aimed at you who say, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
36-37 “You think it’s just a small thing, don’t you,
to try out another sin-project when the first one fails?
But Egypt will leave you in the lurch
the same way that Assyria did.
You’re going to walk away from there
wringing your hands.
I, God, have blacklisted those you trusted.
You’ll get not a lick of help from them.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson