Jeremiah, chapter 2
Words of Warning and Punishment
In this long section (chapters 2–25), Jeremiah brings God's words of judgment to Judah and its capital city, Jerusalem. At times God pleads with the people; at other times God threatens them with terrible visions, and sometimes Jeremiah is told to act out God's message. Jeremiah's life will be a living expression of God's anger, disappointment, and sadness.
God's people have been worshiping other gods and ignoring the agreement God made with them in the time of Moses.
Israel's Unfaithfulness
he Lord told me 2to go to Jerusalem and tell everyone that he had said:
When you were my young bride, you loved me
and followed me through the barren desert.
3You belonged to me alone,
like the first part of the harvest,
and I severely punished those who mistreated you.
4Listen, people of Israel, 5and I, the Lord, will speak.
I was never unfair to your ancestors,
but they left me and became worthless
by following worthless idols.
6Your ancestors refused to ask for my help,
though I had rescued them from Egypt
and led them through a treacherous, barren desert,
where no one lives or dares to travel.
7I brought you here to my land, where food is abundant,
but you made my land filthy with your sins.
8The priests who teach my laws don't care to know me.
Your leaders rebel against me;
your prophets give messages from Baal
and worship false gods.
The Lord Accuses His People
9 I will take you to court
and accuse you and your descendants
* 10of a crime that no nation has ever committed before.
Just ask anyone, anywhere, from the eastern deserts
to the islands in the west.
11You will find that no nation has ever abandoned its gods
even though they were false.
I am the true and glorious God,
but you have rejected me to worship idols.
12Tell the heavens to tremble with fear!
13You, my people, have sinned in two ways—
you have rejected me,
the source of life-giving water,
and you've tried to collect water
in cracked and leaking pits dug in the ground.
14People of Israel, you weren't born slaves;
you were captured in war.
15Enemies roared like lions and destroyed your land;
towns lie burned and empty.
16Soldiers from the Egyptian towns
of Memphis and Tahpanhes
have cracked your skulls.
17It's all your own fault!
You stopped following me, the Lord your God,
18and you trusted the power of Egypt and Assyria.
19Your own sins will punish you,
because it was a bitter mistake for you to reject me
without fear of punishment.
I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken.
20Long ago you left me and broke all ties between us,
refusing to be my servant.
Now you worship other gods by having sex
on hilltops or in the shade of large trees.
21You were a choice grapevine,
but you have become a wild, useless vine.
Israel Is Stained with Guilt
22The Lord said:
People of Israel, you are stained with guilt,
and no soap or bleach can wash it away.
23You deny your sins and say, “We aren't unclean.
We haven't worshiped Baal.”
But think about what you do in Hinnom Valley.
You run back and forth like young camels,
as you rush to worship one idol after another.
24You are a female donkey sniffing the desert air,
wanting to mate with just anyone.
You are an easy catch!
25Your shoes are worn out, and your throat is parched
from running here and there to worship foreign gods.
“Stop!” I shouted, but you replied, “No!
I love those gods too much.”
26You and your leaders are more disgraceful than thieves—
you and your kings, your priests and prophets
27worship stone idols and sacred poles
as if they had created you
and had given you life.
You have rejected me, but when you're in trouble,
you cry to me for help.
28Go cry to the gods you made!
There should be enough of them to save you,
because Judah has as many gods as it has towns.
Israel Rebels against the Lord
29The Lord said to Israel:
You accuse me of not saving you,
but I say you have rebelled.
30I tried punishing you, but you refused to come back to me,
and like fierce lions you killed my prophets.
31Now listen to what I say! Did I abandon you in the desert
or surround you with darkness?
You are my people, yet you have told me,
“We'll do what we want,
and we refuse to worship you!”
32A bride could not forget
to wear her jewelry to her wedding,
but you have forgotten me day after day.
33You are so clever at finding lovers
that you could give lessons to a prostitute.
34You killed innocent people for no reason at all.
And even though their blood
can be seen on your clothes,
35you claim to be innocent,
and you want me to stop being angry with you.
So I'll take you to court, and we'll see who is right.
36When Assyria let you down, you quickly ran to Egypt,
but you'll find no help there,
37and you will leave in great sadness.
I won't let you find help from those you trust.