JEREMIAH 2



Je 2:1And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Je 2:2Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Jehovah: / I remember concerning you the kindness of your youth, / The love of your bridal days, / When you followed after Me in the wilderness, / In a land that was not sown.

Je 2:3Israel was holiness to Jehovah, / The firstfruits of His increase; / All who ate of it were guilty; / Evil came upon them, / Declares Jehovah.

Je 2:4Hear the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel.

Je 2:5Thus says Jehovah: / What iniquity did your fathers find in Me / That they went far away from Me / And walked after vanity / And became vain?

Je 2:6And they did not say, Where is Jehovah, / Who brought us up from the land of Egypt, / Who brought us through the wilderness, / Through a land of deserts and pits, / Through a land of drought and the shadow of death, / Through a land that no one passes through / And where no man dwells?

Je 2:7And I brought you into the land of the fruited field, / To eat its fruit and its goodness. / But you came and defiled My land / And made My inheritance an abomination.

Je 2:8The priests did not say, / Where is Jehovah? / And those who handle the law did not know Me, / And the shepherds transgressed against Me, / And the prophets prophesied by Baal / And followed after things that did not benefit them.

Je 2:9Therefore I will yet contend with you, declares Jehovah; / And with your children’s children I will contend.

Je 2:10For pass over to the coastlands of Kittim and see, / And send someone to Kedar and consider carefully, / And see if there has ever been anything like this.

Je 2:11Has a nation ever exchanged its gods, / Even though they are no gods? / But My people have exchanged their glory / For that which does not benefit them.

Je 2:12Be appalled at this, O heavens, / And be horrified; be very desolate, / Declares Jehovah.

Je 2:13For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water.

Je 2:14Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn slave? / Why has he become a prey?

Je 2:15The young lions roared over him; / They sounded their voices. / And they have made his land a waste; / His cities are burned, without inhabitant.

Je 2:16Also the children of Memphis and Tahpanhes / Have shaved the crown of your head.

Je 2:17Have you not done this to yourself / By your forsaking Jehovah your God / When He was leading you in the way?

Je 2:18And now what do you have on the road to Egypt, / To drink the waters of the Shihor? / And what do you have on the road to Assyria, / To drink the waters of the River?

Je 2:19Your own wickedness will correct you, / And your apostasies will reprove you. / Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing, / That you have forsaken Jehovah your God / And that My fear is not in you, / Declares the Lord Jehovah of hosts.

Je 2:20For long ago you broke your yoke; / You tore off your bonds; / And you said, I will not serve! / Indeed upon every high hill / And under every flourishing tree / You have lain down, you have committed fornication.

Je 2:21Yet I, I had planted you as a choice vine, / Wholly a faithful seed. / How then have you turned yourself before Me / Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?

Je 2:22For though you wash yourself with lye / And make use of much soap, / Your iniquity remains as a stain before Me, / Declares the Lord Jehovah.

Je 2:23How can you say, I am not defiled; / I have not gone after the Baals? / Look at your way in the valley; / Know what you have done. / You are like a swift young camel entangling her ways,

Je 2:24Like a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, / Panting after the wind in her desire. / In her passion who can turn her away? / None that seek her will weary themselves: / They will find her in her month.

Je 2:25Keep your foot from being unshod / And your throat from thirst; / But you said, It is hopeless. / No! For I have loved strangers, / And I will go after them.

Je 2:26As the thief is ashamed when he is found, / So the house of Israel is ashamed — / They, their kings, their princes, / And their priests and their prophets,

Je 2:27Who say to a tree, You are my father; / And to a stone, You have brought me forth — / For they have turned their back to Me, / And not their faces. / Yet in a time of their trouble they will say, / Arise and save us.

Je 2:28But where are your gods, whom you made for yourselves? / Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; / For according to the number of your cities / Are your gods, O Judah.

Je 2:29Why do you contend with Me? / You have all transgressed against Me, / Declares Jehovah.

Je 2:30In vain I have stricken your children: / They have taken no correction. / Your own sword has devoured your prophets / Like a destroying lion.

Je 2:31O generation, attend to the word of Jehovah: / Have I been a wilderness to Israel, / Or a land of deep darkness? / Why do My people say, We roam about; / We will no longer come to You?

Je 2:32Can the virgin forget her ornaments, / Or the bride her attire? / But My people have forgotten Me / For days without number.

Je 2:33How you prepare your ways / To seek love! / Therefore you have even taught / Wicked women your ways.

Je 2:34Also on your skirts is found / The lifeblood of the innocent poor. / You did not find them breaking in, / But killed them because of all these things.

Je 2:35But you said, I am innocent; / Surely His anger will turn from me. / I am about to enter into judgment with you, / Because you say, I have not sinned.

Je 2:36Why do you go about so much / To change your way? / You will be put to shame by Egypt also, / Even as you were put to shame by Assyria.

Je 2:37Indeed, from it you will go forth / With your hands upon your head; / For Jehovah has rejected those in whom you trust, / And you will not prosper by them.

Jeremiah 1 Jeremiah 3

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