Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. This is what the Lord says:

(A)What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me,
And walked after (B)emptiness and became empty?
They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
Who (C)brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who (D)led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of [a]deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no person lived?’
I brought you into the (E)fruitful land
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and (F)defiled My land,
And you made My inheritance an abomination.
The (G)priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the Law (H)did not know Me;
The [b]rulers also revolted against Me,
And the (I)prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after (J)things that were of no benefit.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:6 Or the shadow of death
  2. Jeremiah 2:8 Lit shepherds

The Unfaithfulness of Israel’s Ancestors

Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob, and all the clans[a] of the house of Israel. Thus says Yahweh:

“What injustice did your ancestors[b] find in me
    that they were far from me,
and they went after the vanity,
    and they became vain?
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,[c]
in a land of desert plains and gorges,[d]
    in a land of dryness and deep darkness,
in a land that no one passes through,[e]
    and no human lives there?’
And I brought you to the land of the orchard,
    to eat its fruit, and its good things.[f]
But you entered and defiled my land,
    and my inheritance you made a detestable thing.[g]
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,[h]
    and the prophets prophesied by Baal,
and they went after things which do not profit.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:4 Or “families”
  2. Jeremiah 2:5 Or “fathers”
  3. Jeremiah 2:6 Or “wilderness”
  4. Jeremiah 2:6 Hebrew “gorge”
  5. Jeremiah 2:6 Literally “no man passes through in it”
  6. Jeremiah 2:7 Hebrew “good thing”
  7. Jeremiah 2:7 Or “abomination”
  8. Jeremiah 2:8 Literally “broken with me”