Jeremiah 2

Israel Was God's Holy Choice

1-3 God's Message came to me. It went like this: "Get out in the streets and call to Jerusalem, 'God's Message! I remember your youthful loyalty, our love as newlyweds. You stayed with me through the wilderness years, stuck with me through all the hard places. Israel was God's holy choice, the pick of the crop. Anyone who laid a hand on her would soon wish he hadn't!'" God's Decree.

4-6 Hear God's Message, House of Jacob! Yes, you—House of Israel! God's Message: "What did your ancestors find fault with in me that they drifted so far from me, Took up with Sir Windbag and turned into windbags themselves?
It never occurred to them to say, 'Where's God, the God who got us out of Egypt, Who took care of us through thick and thin, those rough-and-tumble wilderness years of parched deserts and death valleys, A land that no one who enters comes out of, a cruel, inhospitable land?'

7-8 "I brought you to a garden land where you could eat lush fruit. But you barged in and polluted my land, trashed and defiled my dear land. The priests never thought to ask, 'Where's God?' The religion experts knew nothing of me. The rulers defied me. The prophets preached god Baal And chased empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.

9-11 "Because of all this, I'm bringing charges against you" —God's Decree— "charging you and your children and your grandchildren. Look around. Have you ever seen anything quite like this? Sail to the western islands and look. Travel to the Kedar wilderness and look. Look closely. Has this ever happened before, That a nation has traded in its gods for gods that aren't even close to gods? But my people have traded my Glory for empty god-dreams and silly god-schemes.

12-13 "Stand in shock, heavens, at what you see! Throw up your hands in disbelief—this can't be!" God's Decree. "My people have committed a compound sin: they've walked out on me, the fountain Of fresh flowing waters, and then dug cisterns— cisterns that leak, cisterns that are no better than sieves.

14-17 "Isn't Israel a valued servant, born into a family with place and position? So how did she end up a piece of meat fought over by snarling and roaring lions? There's nothing left of her but a few old bones, her towns trashed and deserted. Egyptians from the cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken your skulls. And why do you think all this has happened? Isn't it because you walked out on your God just as he was beginning to lead you in the right way?

18-19 "And now, what do you think you'll get by going off to Egypt? Maybe a cool drink of Nile River water? Or what do you think you'll get by going off to Assyria? Maybe a long drink of Euphrates River water? Your evil ways will get you a sound thrashing, that's what you'll get. You'll pay dearly for your disloyal ways. Take a long, hard look at what you've done and its bitter results. Was it worth it to have walked out on your God?" God's Decree, Master God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

Addicted to Alien Gods

20-22 "A long time ago you broke out of the harness. You shook off all restraints. You said, 'I will not serve!' and off you went, Visiting every sex-and-religion shrine on the way, like a common whore. You were a select vine when I planted you from completely reliable stock. And look how you've turned out— a tangle of rancid growth, a poor excuse for a vine. Scrub, using the strongest soaps. Scour your skin raw. The sin-grease won't come out. I can't stand to even look at you!" God's Decree, the Master's Decree.

23-24 "How dare you tell me, 'I'm not stained by sin. I've never chased after the Baal sex gods'! Well, look at the tracks you've left behind in the valley. How do you account for what is written in the desert dust— Tracks of a camel in heat, running this way and that, tracks of a wild donkey in rut, Sniffing the wind for the slightest scent of sex. Who could possibly corral her! On the hunt for sex, sex, and more sex— insatiable, indiscriminate, promiscuous.

25 "Slow down. Take a deep breath. What's the hurry? Why wear yourself out? Just what are you after anyway? But you say, 'I can't help it. I'm addicted to alien gods. I can't quit.'

26-28 "Just as a thief is chagrined, but only when caught, so the people of Israel are chagrined, Caught along with their kings and princes, their priests and prophets. They walk up to a tree and say, 'My father!' They pick up a stone and say, 'My mother! You bore me!' All I ever see of them is their backsides. They never look me in the face. But when things go badly, they don't hesitate to come running, calling out, 'Get a move on! Save us!' Why not go to your handcrafted gods you're so fond of? Rouse them. Let them save you from your bad times. You've got more gods, Judah, than you know what to do with.

Trying Out Another Sin-Project

29-30 "What do you have against me, running off to assert your 'independence'?" God's Decree. "I've wasted my time trying to train your children. They've paid no attention to me, ignored my discipline. And you've gotten rid of your God-messengers, treating them like dirt and sweeping them away.

31-32 "What a generation you turned out to be! Didn't I tell you? Didn't I warn you? Have I let you down, Israel? Am I nothing but a dead-end street? Why do my people say, 'Good riddance! From now on we're on our own'? Young women don't forget their jewelry, do they? Brides don't show up without their veils, do they? But my people forget me. Day after day after day they never give me a thought.

33-35 "What an impressive start you made to get the most out of life. You founded schools of sin, taught graduate courses in evil! And now you're sending out graduates, resplendent in cap and gown— except the gowns are stained with the blood of your victims! All that blood convicts you. You cut and hurt a lot of people to get where you are. And yet you have the gall to say, 'I've done nothing wrong. God doesn't mind. He hasn't punished me, has he?' Don't look now, but judgment's on the way, aimed at you who say, 'I've done nothing wrong.'

36-37 "You think it's just a small thing, don't you, to try out another sin-project when the first one fails? But Egypt will leave you in the lurch the same way that Assyria did. You're going to walk away from there wringing your hands. I, God, have blacklisted those you trusted. You'll get not a lick of help from them."

Jeremiah 2

The Lord Recalls Israel’s Earlier Faithfulness

1 The Lord spoke to me. He said:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem:s ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you,t how devoted you were to me in your early years.ss I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

3 Israel was set apart to the Lord; they were like the first fruits of a harvest to him.s All who tried to devour them were punished; disaster came upon them,” says the Lord.’”

The Lord Reminds Them of the Unfaithfulness of Their Ancestors

4 Now listen to what the Lord has to say, you descendantst of Jacob,
all you family groups from the nationt of Israel.

5 This is what the Lord says:
“What fault could your ancestorst have possibly found in me
that they strayed so far from me?t
They paid allegiance tot worthless idols, and so became worthless to me.t

6 They did not ask:
‘Where is the Lord who delivered us out of Egypt,
who brought us through the wilderness,
through a land of desert sands and rift valleys,
through a land of drought and deep darkness,t
through a land in which no one travels,
and where no one lives?’s

7 I brought yous into a fertile land
so you could enjoyt its fruits and its rich bounty.
But when you entered my land, you defiled it;s
you made the land I call my ownts loathsome to me.

8 Your priestst did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’s
Those responsible for teaching my lawts did not really know me.t
Your rulers rebelled against me.
Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.t
They all worshiped idols that could not help them.t

The Lord Charges Contemporary Israel with Spiritual Adultery

9 “So, once more I will state my casets against you,” says the Lord.
“I will also state it against your children and grandchildren.ts

10 Go westt across the sea to the coasts of Cyprusts and see.
Send someone east to Kedars and have them look carefully.
See if such a thing as this has ever happened:

11 Has a nation ever changed its gods
(even though they are not really gods at all)?
But my people have exchanged me, their glorious God,t
for a god that cannot help them at all!t

12 Be amazed at this, O heavens!s
Be shocked and utterly dumbfounded,”
says the Lord.

13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:
they have rejected me,
the fountain of life-giving water,t
and they have dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns which cannot even hold water.”

Israel’s Reliance on Foreign Alliances (not on God)

14 “Israel is not a slave, is he?
He was not born into slavery, was he?ts
If not, why then is he being carried off?

15 Like lions his enemies roar victoriously over him;
they raise their voices in triumph.ts
They have laid his land waste;
his cities have been burned down and deserted.t

16 Even the soldierst from Memphis and Tahpanhes
have cracked your skulls, people of Israel.s

17 You have brought all this on yourself, Israel,t
by deserting the Lord your God when he was leading you along the right path.t

18 What good will it do yout thent to go down to Egypt
to seek help from the Egyptians?t
What good will it do yout to go over to Assyria
to seek help from the Assyrians?t

19 Your own wickedness will bring about your punishment.
Your unfaithful acts will bring down discipline on you.t
Know, then, and realize how utterly harmfult
it was for you to reject me, the Lord your God,t
to show no respect for me,”t
says the Lord God who rules over all.t

The Lord Expresses His Exasperation at Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

20 “Indeed,t long ago you threw off my authority
and refused to be subject to me.t
You said, ‘I will not serve you.’s
Instead, you gave yourself to other gods on every high hill
and under every green tree,
like a prostitute sprawls out before her lovers.t

21 I planted you in the land
like a special vine of the very best stock.
Why in the world have you turned into something like a wild vine
that produces rotten, foul-smelling grapes?s

22 You can try to wash away your guilt with a strong detergent.
You can use as much soap as you want.
But the stain of your guilt is still there for me to see,”t
says the Lord God.t

23 “How can you say, ‘I have not made myself unclean.
I have not paid allegiance tot the gods called Baal.’
Just look at the way you have behaved in the Valley of Hinnom!t
Think about the things you have done there!
You are like a flighty, young female camel
that rushes here and there, crisscrossing its path.s

24 You are like a wild female donkey brought up in the wilderness.
In her lust she sniffs the wind to get the scent of a male.t
No one can hold her back when she is in heat.
None of the males need wear themselves out chasing after her.
At mating time she is easy to find.s

25 Do not chase after other gods until your shoes wear out
and your throats become dry.t
But you say, ‘It is useless for you to try and stop me
because I love those foreign godst and want to pursue them!’

26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,
so the people of Israelt will suffer dishonor for what they have done.t
So will their kings and officials,
their priests and their prophets.

27 They say to a wooden idol,t ‘You are my father.’
They say to a stone image, ‘You gave birth to me.’s
Yes, they have turned away from me instead of turning to me.t
Yet when they are in trouble, they say, ‘Come and save us!’

28 But where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them save you when you are in trouble.
The sad fact is thatt you have as many gods
as you have towns, Judah.

29 “Why do you try to refute me?s
All of you have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.

30 “It did no good for me to punish your people.
They did not respond to such correction.
You slaughtered your prophets
like a voracious lion.”t

31 You people of this generation,
listen to what the Lord says.
“Have I been like a wilderness to you, Israel?
Have I been like a dark and dangerous land to you?t
Why then do yout say, ‘We are free to wander.t
We will not come to you any more?’

32 Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels?
Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire?
But my people have forgotten me
for more days than can even be counted.

33 “My, how good you have become
at chasing after your lovers!t
Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two!t

34 Even your clothes are stained with
the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong;
you did not catch them breaking into your homes.ts
Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,t

35 you say, ‘I have not done anything wrong,
so the Lord cannot really be angry with me any more.’
But, watch out!t I will bring down judgment on you
because you say, ‘I have not committed any sin.’

36 Why do you constantly go about
changing your political allegiances?t
You will get no help from Egypt
just as you got no help from Assyria.t

37 Moreover, you will come away from Egypt
with your hands covering your faces in sorrow and shamet
because the Lord will not allow your reliance on them to be successful
and you will not gain any help from them.t