Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 2:19

"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts." — Jeremiah 2:19 (ASV)

Your own wickedness. —The tone is now of a higher mood, and rises from what is local and temporary to the eternal law of retribution. Punishment comes as the natural consequence of sins. Our “pleasant vices” become “whips to scourge us.” The “backslidings” of Israel, in seeking the favor of foreign states by adopting their creed and worship, will involve her in ever fresh calamities.