Jeremiah 2:1-13 ▼

1 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

3 Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him are guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah.

4 Hear the word of Jehovah, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.

5 Thus saith Jehovah: What injustice have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and become vain?

6 And they said not, Where is Jehovah, that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and of pits, in a land of drought and of the shadow of death, in a land that no one passeth through, and where no man dwelleth?

7 And I brought you into a fruitful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof; and ye entered and defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.

8 The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handled the law knew me not; and the shepherds transgressed against me; and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after [things that] do not profit.

9 Therefore will I yet plead with you, saith Jehovah, and with your children's children will I plead.

10 For pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there have been such a thing.

11 Hath a nation changed [its] gods? and they are no gods; -- but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

12 Be astonished, ye heavens, at this, and shudder; be amazed very much, saith Jehovah.

13 For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew them out cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water.