Jeremiah 2

New King James Version

“I remember you,
The kindness of your ^(A)youth,
The love of your betrothal,
^(B)When you ^[a]went after Me in the wilderness,
In a land not sown.
^3 (C)Israel was holiness to the Lord,
^(D)The firstfruits of His increase.
^(E)All that devour him will offend;
Disaster will ^(F)come upon them,” says the Lord.’ ”

^(G)“What injustice have your fathers found in Me,
That they have gone far from Me,
^(H)Have followed ^[b]idols,
And have become idolaters?
⁶ Neither did they say, ‘Where is the Lord,
Who ^(I)brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who led us through ^(J)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 crossed
And where no one dwelt?’
⁷ I brought you into ^(K)a bountiful country,
To eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you ^(L)defiled My land
And made My heritage an abomination.
⁸ The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the ^(M)law did not know Me;
The rulers also transgressed against Me;
^(N)The prophets prophesied by Baal,
And walked after things that do not profit.

⁹ “Therefore ^(O)I will yet ^[c]bring charges against you,” says the Lord,
“And against your children’s children I will bring charges.
¹⁰ For pass beyond the coasts of ^[d]Cyprus and see,
Send to ^[e]Kedar and consider diligently,
And see if there has been such a ^(P)thing.
^11 (Q)Has a nation changed its gods,
Which are ^(R)not gods?
^(S)But My people have changed their Glory
For what does not profit.
¹² Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the Lord.
¹³ “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the ^(T)fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴ “Is Israel ^(U)a servant?
Is he a homeborn slave?
Why is he plundered?
^15 (V)The young lions roared at him, and growled;
They made his land waste;
His cities are burned, without inhabitant.
¹⁶ Also the people of ^[f]Noph and ^(W)Tahpanhes
Have ^[g]broken the crown of your head.
^17 (X)Have you not brought this on yourself,
In that you have forsaken the Lord your God
When ^(Y)He led you in the way?
¹⁸ And now why take ^(Z)the road to Egypt,
To drink the waters of ^(AA)Sihor?
Or why take the road to ^(AB)Assyria,
To drink the waters of ^[h]the River?
¹⁹ Your own wickedness will ^(AC)correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the Lord your God,
And the ^[i]fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰ “For of old I have ^(AD)broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And ^(AE)you said, ‘I will not ^[j]transgress,’
When ^(AF)on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, ^(AG)playing the harlot.
²¹ Yet I had ^(AH)planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into ^(AI)the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
²² For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is ^(AJ)marked^[k] before Me,” says the Lord God.

²³ “How^(AK) can you say, ‘I am not ^[l]polluted,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley;
Know what you have done:
You are a swift dromedary breaking loose in her ways,
²⁴ A wild donkey used to the wilderness,
That sniffs at the wind in her desire;
In her time of mating, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves;
In her month they will find her.
²⁵ Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ^(AL)‘There is no hope.
No! For I have loved ^(AM)aliens, and after them I will go.’

²⁶ “As the thief is ashamed when he is found out,
So is the house of Israel ashamed;
They and their kings and their princes, and their priests and their ^(AN)prophets,
²⁷ Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a ^(AO)stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their ^(AP)trouble
They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
²⁸ But ^(AQ)where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they ^(AR)can save you in the time of your ^[m]trouble;
For ^(AS)according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹ “Why will you plead with Me?
You all have transgressed against Me,” says the Lord.
³⁰ “In vain I have ^(AT)chastened your children;
They ^(AU)received no correction.
Your sword has ^(AV)devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.

³¹ “O generation, see the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a land of darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘We ^[n]are lords;
^(AW)We will come no more to You’?
³² Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people ^(AX)have forgotten Me days without number.

³³ “Why do you beautify your way to seek love?
Therefore you have also taught
The wicked women your ways.
³⁴ Also on your skirts is found
^(AY)The blood of the lives of the poor innocents.
I have not found it by ^[o]secret search,
But plainly on all these things.
^35 (AZ)Yet you say, ‘Because I am innocent,
Surely His anger shall turn from me.’
Behold, ^(BA)I will plead My case against you,
^(BB)Because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
^36 (BC)Why do you gad about so much to change your way?
Also ^(BD)you shall be ashamed of Egypt ^(BE)as you were ashamed of Assyria.
³⁷ Indeed you will go forth from him
With your hands on ^(BF)your head;
For the Lord has rejected your trusted allies,
And you will ^(BG)not prosper by them.