Jeremiah 2:1-13

Judah’s Apostasy

¹Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“I remember regarding you the devotion of your youth,

Your love when you were a bride,

Your following after Me in the wilderness,

Through a land not sown.

3“Israel was holy to the Lord,

The first of His harvest.

All who ate of it became guilty;

Evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’ ”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵This is what the Lord says:

“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,

That they went far from Me,

And walked after emptiness and became empty?

6“They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord

Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,

Who led us through the wilderness,

Through a land of deserts and of pits,

Through a land of drought and of deep darkness,

Through a land that no one crossed

And where no person lived?’

7“I brought you into the fruitful land

To eat its fruit and its good things.

But you came and defiled My land,

And you made My inheritance an abomination.

8“The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’

And those who handle the Law did not know Me;

The rulers also revolted against Me,

And the prophets prophesied by Baal

And walked after things that were of no benefit.

9“Therefore I will still contend with you,” declares the Lord,

“And I will contend with your sons’ sons.

10“For cross to the coastlands of Kittim and see,

And send to Kedar and observe closely,

And see if there has been anything like this!

11“Has a nation changed gods,

When they were not gods?

But My people have exchanged their glory

For that which is of no benefit.

12“Be appalled at this, you heavens,

And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.

13“For My people have committed two evils:

They have abandoned Me,

The fountain of living waters,

To carve out for themselves cisterns,

Broken cisterns

That do not hold water.