Jeremiah 2:1-13 ▼

1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

2 Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the LORD: I remember for thee the affection of thy youth, The love of thine espousals; How thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, In a land that was not sown.

3 Israel is the LORD'S hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase; All that devour him shall be held guilty, Evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD.

4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, And all the families of the house of Israel;

5 Thus saith the LORD: What unrighteousness have your fathers found in Me, That they are gone far from Me, And have walked after things of nought, and are become nought?

6 Neither said they: 'Where is the LORD that brought us up Out of the land of Egypt; That led us through the wilderness, Through a land of deserts and of pits, Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, Through a land that no man passed through, And where no man dwelt?'

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

8 The priests said not: 'Where is the LORD?' And they that handle the law knew Me not, And the rulers transgressed against Me; The prophets also prophesied by Baal, And walked after things that do not profit.

9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, And with your children's children will I plead.

10 For pass over to the isles of the Kittites, and see, And send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, And see if there hath been such a thing.

11 Hath a nation changed its gods, Which yet are no gods? But My people hath changed its glory For that which doth not profit.

12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, And be horribly afraid, be ye exceeding amazed, Saith the LORD.

13 For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, That can hold no water.