14 Is Israel a servant, a slave(A) by birth?
    Why then has he become plunder?
15 Lions(B) have roared;
    they have growled at him.
They have laid waste(C) his land;
    his towns are burned(D) and deserted.(E)
16 Also, the men of Memphis(F) and Tahpanhes(G)
    have cracked your skull.
17 Have you not brought this on yourselves(H)
    by forsaking(I) the Lord your God
    when he led you in the way?
18 Now why go to Egypt(J)
    to drink water from the Nile[a]?(K)
And why go to Assyria(L)
    to drink water from the Euphrates?(M)
19 Your wickedness will punish you;
    your backsliding(N) will rebuke(O) you.
Consider then and realize
    how evil and bitter(P) it is for you
when you forsake(Q) the Lord your God
    and have no awe(R) of me,”
declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:18 Hebrew Shihor; that is, a branch of the Nile

Consequences of Apostasy

14 Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?[a]
Why else has he become a prey?
15 The young lions have roared at him;(A)
they have roared loudly.
They have laid waste his land.(B)
His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.
16 The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes(C)
have also broken your skull.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself(D)
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(E)
to drink the water of the Nile?[b]
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria(F)
to drink the water of the Euphrates?(G)
19 Your own evil will discipline you;(H)
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Recognize[c] how evil and bitter(I) 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 Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:14 Lit born of a house
  2. 2:18 Lit of Shihor
  3. 2:19 Lit Know and see