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UST by section JER 2:1

⌂ ← JER 2:1–2:37 → ║ ═ ©

Jeremiah 2

2 Yahweh gave me another message. He told me 2 that I should go and proclaim in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem. He said that I should tell them this.

“I, Yahweh, declare this: I remember in your favor, that long ago you faithfully loved me.

You loved me and tried to please me like a bride loves and tries to please her husband.

You followed me in the desert,

where no crops were sown. 3 At that time you Israelites were set apart to me;

you belonged to me like the first part of the harvests belong to me.

I promised to punish all those who harmed you, my people,

and truly I did send disasters on them.

That happened because I, Yahweh, said that it would happen.”

4 Listen to what Yahweh says you descendants of Jacob, yes, listen you people from every clan of Israel.

5 Yahweh says,

“Your ancestors stopped worshiping and obeying me even though I did no wrong to them.

They worshiped worthless idols,

and they themselves became worthless.

6 They did not say,

‘We need Yahweh, who brought us safely out of Egypt

and led us through a desert where there were a lot of pits;

where there was no water and where it was very dangerous.

He led us through a land that no one travels through and where no one lives.’

7 I brought you into a fruitful land,

in order that you could enjoy the fruit and other good things that you would harvest.

But when you came, your sinful behavior caused the land that I promised to give to you to be unfit for me

and to become detestable to me.

8 Your priests did not say,

‘Yahweh should be helping us now!’

Those who teach my laws do not understand or truly know me

and your leaders have rebelled against me.

Your prophets gave you messages they said were from their god Baal,

and they worshiped worthless idols.

9 So I will argue my case with you,

I, Yahweh, declare,

and I will argue my case with your grand-children.

10 If you go west to the island of Cyprus,

or if you go east to the land of Kedar,

and if you ask people in those places,

they will tell you that no people from their countries have ever done the things that you people have done!

11 The people of no other nation have ever abandoned their gods (even though they are not gods at all)!

But my people have abandoned me, their glorious God,

and now worship gods that profit them nothing.

12 It is as though everything in the sky is dismayed about what you have done;

it is as though they tremble because they are very horrified!

I, Yahweh, declare this to you. 13 You, my people, have done two evil things:

You have rejected me, the one who is like a fountain where you can obtain fresh water,

and you are worshiping gods that are like pits in the ground,

that are cracked and which are not able to hold any water.

14 You Israelite people were certainly not servants when you were born, or slaves born in the house in which they serve!

But now you have been captured by your enemies!

15 Your enemies roared at you like lions,

and they destroyed your land.

Now your towns have been burned,

and no one lives in them.

16 Soldiers from Memphis and Tahpenes, cities in Egypt, have defeated you

and shaved your heads to show that you are their slaves.

17 It is because you abandoned me, Yahweh your God, as I was leading you in the way you should go,

that these disasters have happened to you!

18 It certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Egypt!

It certainly will not help you to make an alliance with the rulers of Assyria!

19 It is because you have done wicked things that I will punish you.

It is because you have turned away from me that I will condemn you.

When I do that, you will realize that bitter and evil things will happen to you because you have forsaken me, Yahweh, your God,

and you no longer have an awesome respect for me.

That will certainly happen because I, the Lord, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies in heaven, have said it.

20 Long ago, I delivered you from your slavery in the land of Egypt.

But you said, ‘I will not worship Yahweh!’

Instead, you worship idols that are under green trees on the top of every hill.

You love and worship those idols instead of me like a woman who is not faithful to her husband and instead becomes a prostitute.

21 It is as though you were a grapevine,

that I planted when it was a cutting from a very good vine.

So now it is disgusting that you have changed your behavior toward me and have become like a rotten worthless vine!

22 Your guilt from your sinful behavior is like very bad stains on a cloth,

and you cannot get rid of those stains even by using very strong soap.

This is true because I, Lord Yahweh, have said it.

23 You should not say, ‘I am acceptable to God;

and have not worshiped the images of Baal.’

But think about the disgusting things that you do very eagerly in the Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem.

Know that you are like fast female camels running aimlessly all about to find male camels to mate with.

24 You are like a wild female donkey that is accustomed to the wilderness.

Because that wild donkey desires to mate she sniffs the air to find where the male donkeys are.

At the time that, that female donkey is in heat there is no one who can restrain her lust.

None of the male donkeys that desire to mate with her become tired searching for her,

because at mating time they find her.

25 I told you to stop running here and there to find idols to worship, with the result that your sandals have become worn out,

and your throats have become dry.

I told you to stop doing that but you said,

‘We cannot stop, because we love foreign gods,

and we must worship them!

26 As a robber is disgraced when he is caught,

so all of you Israelites, including your kings, princes, priests and prophets, are similarly disgraced.

27 You say to a piece of wood that is carved to become an idol, ‘You are our father!’

And you say to a stone that you have set up, ‘You are our mother!’

You have rejected me,

but when you experience troubles,

you say, ‘Take action and save us!’

28 Take notice that the false gods that you made for yourself are not helping you.

Let them take action, if they are able, and rescue you,

when you need help.

For you, people of Judah, have as many false gods as you have cities!

29 You should not complain that it was wrong for me not to have rescued you,

since you have all rebelled against me.

This is what, I, Yahweh, declare.

30 I punished some of you,

but you did not learn anything from my doing that.

Instead you have killed many of the prophets that I sent to you,

like fierce lions kill other animals.

31 You people of Israel, pay attention to what I, Yahweh, say!

I have certainly not been like a desert to you my people, Israel,

and I have certainly not been like a very dark land to you.

You, my people, should not say that you are free from my control,

and that you will not return to worship me anymore!

32 A young, unmarried woman would certainly never forget to wear her jewelry,

and a bride would never forget to wear her wedding dress!

But you, my people, have forgotten me for many years.

33 You know how to easily find gods from other countries whom you can love.

So, even prostitutes could learn from you.

34 You also have the blood of poor, innocent people on your clothes whom you have murdered,

even though you did not catch them robbing you!

But in spite of all of these things,

35 you still say, ‘I have done nothing wrong,

so I am sure that Yahweh will not be angry with me.’

But know that I will punish you

for claiming that you have not sinned.

36 It is ridiculous how you go about constantly changing who you ask for help!

Previously you requested the army of Assyria to help you,

but they were not able to help you.

Now you have requested the army of Egypt to help you,

but they will not be able to help you, either.

37 They will capture you, and you will be their prisoners,

led to Egypt, very ashamed with your hands on your heads.

That will happen because I, Yahweh, have rejected those nations that you are relying on,

and they will not be able to help you at all.”