VerseAI

NIV

Jeremiah 2

  1. 1<pb/>The word of the LORD came to me:
  2. 2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: <pb/>“This is what the LORD says: <pb/><t>“ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth,</t> <t>how as a bride you loved me</t> <t>and followed me through the wilderness,</t> <t>through a land not sown.</t>
  3. 3<t>Israel was holy to the LORD,</t> <t>the firstfruits of his harvest;</t> <t>all who devoured her were held guilty,</t> <t>and disaster overtook them,’ ”</t> <t>declares the LORD. <pb/></t>
  4. 4<t>Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob,</t> <t>all you clans of Israel.</t>
  5. 5<pb/>This is what the LORD says: <pb/><t>“What fault did your ancestors find in me,</t> <t>that they strayed so far from me?</t> <t>They followed worthless idols</t> <t>and became worthless themselves.</t>
  6. 6<t>They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,</t> <t>who brought us up out of Egypt</t> <t>and led us through the barren wilderness,</t> <t>through a land of deserts and ravines,</t> <t>a land of drought and utter darkness,</t> <t>a land where no one travels and no one lives?’</t>
  7. 7<t>I brought you into a fertile land</t> <t>to eat its fruit and rich produce.</t> <t>But you came and defiled my land</t> <t>and made my inheritance detestable.</t>
  8. 8<t>The priests did not ask,</t> <t>‘Where is the LORD?’</t> <t>Those who deal with the law did not know me;</t> <t>the leaders rebelled against me.</t> <t>The prophets prophesied by Baal,</t> <t>following worthless idols. <pb/></t>
  9. 9<t>“Therefore I bring charges against you again,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t> <t>“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.</t>
  10. 10<t>Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,</t> <t>send to Kedar<f>[3]</f> and observe closely;</t> <t>see if there has ever been anything like this:</t>
  11. 11<t>Has a nation ever changed its gods?</t> <t>(Yet they are not gods at all.)</t> <t>But my people have exchanged their glorious God</t> <t>for worthless idols.</t>
  12. 12<t>Be appalled at this, you heavens,</t> <t>and shudder with great horror,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t>
  13. 13<t>“My people have committed two sins:</t> <t>They have forsaken me,</t> <t>the spring of living water,</t> <t>and have dug their own cisterns,</t> <t>broken cisterns that cannot hold water.</t>
  14. 14<t>Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?</t> <t>Why then has he become plunder?</t>
  15. 15<t>Lions have roared;</t> <t>they have growled at him.</t> <t>They have laid waste his land;</t> <t>his towns are burned and deserted.</t>
  16. 16<t>Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes</t> <t>have cracked your skull.</t>
  17. 17<t>Have you not brought this on yourselves</t> <t>by forsaking the LORD your God</t> <t>when he led you in the way?</t>
  18. 18<t>Now why go to Egypt</t> <t>to drink water from the Nile<f>[4]</f>?</t> <t>And why go to Assyria</t> <t>to drink water from the Euphrates?</t>
  19. 19<t>Your wickedness will punish you;</t> <t>your backsliding will rebuke you.</t> <t>Consider then and realize</t> <t>how evil and bitter it is for you</t> <t>when you forsake the LORD your God</t> <t>and have no awe of me,”</t> <t>declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty. <pb/></t>
  20. 20<t>“Long ago you broke off your yoke</t> <t>and tore off your bonds;</t> <t>you said, ‘I will not serve you!’</t> <t>Indeed, on every high hill</t> <t>and under every spreading tree</t> <t>you lay down as a prostitute.</t>
  21. 21<t>I had planted you like a choice vine</t> <t>of sound and reliable stock.</t> <t>How then did you turn against me</t> <t>into a corrupt, wild vine?</t>
  22. 22<t>Although you wash yourself with soap</t> <t>and use an abundance of cleansing powder,</t> <t>the stain of your guilt is still before me,”</t> <t>declares the Sovereign LORD.</t>
  23. 23<t>“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;</t> <t>I have not run after the Baals’?</t> <t>See how you behaved in the valley;</t> <t>consider what you have done.</t> <t>You are a swift she-camel</t> <t>running here and there,</t>
  24. 24<t>a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,</t> <t>sniffing the wind in her craving—</t> <t>in her heat who can restrain her?</t> <t>Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;</t> <t>at mating time they will find her.</t>
  25. 25<t>Do not run until your feet are bare</t> <t>and your throat is dry.</t> <t>But you said, ‘It’s no use!</t> <t>I love foreign gods,</t> <t>and I must go after them.’ <pb/></t>
  26. 26<t>“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught,</t> <t>so the people of Israel are disgraced—</t> <t>they, their kings and their officials,</t> <t>their priests and their prophets.</t>
  27. 27<t>They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’</t> <t>and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’</t> <t>They have turned their backs to me</t> <t>and not their faces;</t> <t>yet when they are in trouble, they say,</t> <t>‘Come and save us!’</t>
  28. 28<t>Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?</t> <t>Let them come if they can save you</t> <t>when you are in trouble!</t> <t>For you, Judah, have as many gods</t> <t>as you have towns. <pb/></t>
  29. 29<t>“Why do you bring charges against me?</t> <t>You have all rebelled against me,”</t> <t>declares the LORD.</t>
  30. 30<t>“In vain I punished your people;</t> <t>they did not respond to correction.</t> <t>Your sword has devoured your prophets</t> <t>like a ravenous lion.</t>
  31. 31<pb/>“You of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: <pb/><t>“Have I been a desert to Israel</t> <t>or a land of great darkness?</t> <t>Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;</t> <t>we will come to you no more’?</t>
  32. 32<t>Does a young woman forget her jewelry,</t> <t>a bride her wedding ornaments?</t> <t>Yet my people have forgotten me,</t> <t>days without number.</t>
  33. 33<t>How skilled you are at pursuing love!</t> <t>Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.</t>
  34. 34<t>On your clothes is found</t> <t>the lifeblood of the innocent poor,</t> <t>though you did not catch them breaking in.</t> <t>Yet in spite of all this</t>
  35. 35<t>you say, ‘I am innocent;</t> <t>he is not angry with me.’</t> <t>But I will pass judgment on you</t> <t>because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’</t>
  36. 36<t>Why do you go about so much,</t> <t>changing your ways?</t> <t>You will be disappointed by Egypt</t> <t>as you were by Assyria.</t>
  37. 37<t>You will also leave that place</t> <t>with your hands on your head,</t> <t>for the LORD has rejected those you trust;</t> <t>you will not be helped by them.</t>