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 Israel’s Unfaithfulness

14 “Is Israel a slave, or was he born a servant?[a]
    Why then has he become plunder?
15 Young lions roar at him, they cry out loudly.
    They have made his land into a wasteland,
and his cities are destroyed
    so they are without inhabitants.
16 Also, people from Memphis and Tahpanhes[b]
    have broken[c] your skull.
17 You have done this to yourselves, have you not,
    by forsaking the Lord your God, when he
        is the one who led you on the way?
18 Now, what are you doing on the road to Egypt,
    to drink the waters of the Nile?
And what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
    to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
19 Your wickedness will be punished,
    and you will be corrected due to your acts of apostasy.
Know and see that it’s evil and bitter for you
    to forsake the Lord your God,
but the fear of me is not in you,”
    declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:14 Lit. was he a home born servant (cf. Exod 21:4)
  2. Jeremiah 2:16 I.e. Egyptian cities
  3. Jeremiah 2:16 Or shaved