Jeremiah 2 - Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Israel Accused of Apostasy

2 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says:

I remember the loyalty of your youth,^(A)
your love as a bride—
how you followed Me in the wilderness,
in a land not sown.
³ Israel was holy to the Lord,^(B)
the firstfruits of His harvest.^(C)
All who ate of it found themselves guilty;^(D)
disaster came on them.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.

⁴ Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob
and all families of the house of Israel.
⁵ This is what the Lord says:

What fault did your fathers find in Me^(E)
that they went so far from Me,
followed worthless idols,^(F)
and became worthless themselves?^(G)
6 They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord^(H)
who brought us from the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,^(I)
through a land of deserts and ravines,
through a land of drought and darkness,^[a]
a land no one traveled through
and where no one lived?”
⁷ I brought you to a fertile land^(J)
to eat its fruit and bounty,
but after you entered, you defiled My land;^(K)
you made My inheritance^(L) detestable.
⁸ The priests quit asking, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law no longer knew Me,^(M)
and the rulers^(N) rebelled against Me.
The prophets prophesied by^[b] Baal^(O)
and followed useless idols.^(P)

⁹ Therefore, I will bring a case against you again.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will bring a case against your children’s children.^(Q)
10 Cross over to Cyprus^[c](R) and take a look.
Send someone to Kedar^(S) and consider carefully;
see if there has ever been anything like this:
¹¹ Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?^(T)
(But they were not gods!^(U))
Yet My people have exchanged their^[d] Glory
for useless idols.^(V)
12 Be horrified at this, heavens;^(W)
be shocked and utterly appalled.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹³ For My people have committed a double evil:
They have abandoned Me,^(X)
the fountain of living water,^(Y)
and dug cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.^(Z)

Consequences of Apostasy

¹⁴ Is Israel a slave?
Was he born into slavery?^[e]
Why else has he become a prey?
¹⁵ The young lions have roared at him;^(AA)
they have roared loudly.
They have laid waste his land.^(AB)
His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.
¹⁶ The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes^(AC)
have also broken your skull.
¹⁷ Have you not brought this on yourself^(AD)
by abandoning the Lord your God
while He was leading you along the way?
¹⁸ Now what will you gain
by traveling along the way to Egypt^(AE)
to drink the waters of the Nile?^[f]
What will you gain
by traveling along the way to Assyria^(AF)
to drink the waters of the Euphrates?^(AG)
19 Your own evil will discipline you;^(AH)
your own apostasies will reprimand you.
Think it over and see how evil and bitter^(AI) it is
for you to abandon the Lord your God
and to have no fear of Me.
This is the declaration
of the Lord God of Hosts.

²⁰ For long ago I^[g] broke your yoke;^(AJ)
I^[h] tore off your chains.
You insisted, “I will not serve!”
On every high hill
and under every green tree^(AK)
you lie down like a prostitute.^(AL)

²¹ I planted you, a choice vine^(AM)
from the very best seed.
How then could you turn into
a degenerate, foreign vine?^(AN)

²² Even if you wash with lye
and use a great amount of soap,^(AO)
the stain of your sin is still in front of Me.^(AP)
This is the Lord God’s declaration.
²³ How can you protest, “I am not defiled;
I have not followed the Baals”?^(AQ)
Look at your behavior in the valley;
acknowledge what you have done.^(AR)
You are a swift young camel
twisting and turning on her way,
²⁴ a wild donkey^(AS) at home^[i] in the wilderness.
She sniffs the wind in the heat of her desire.
Who can control her passion?
All who look for her will not become tired;
they will find her in her mating season.^[j]
25 Keep your feet from going bare
and your throat from thirst.
But you say, “It’s hopeless;^(AT)
I love strangers,^(AU)
and I will continue to follow them.”

²⁶ Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,
so the house of Israel has been put to shame.^(AV)
They, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets^(AW)
27 say to a tree, “You are my father,”
and to a stone, “You gave birth to me.”
For they have turned their back to Me
and not their face,^(AX)
yet in their time of disaster^(AY) they beg,
“Rise up and save us!”
²⁸ But where are your gods you made for yourself?
Let them rise up and save you^(AZ)
in your time of disaster if they can,
for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.

Judgment Deserved

²⁹ Why do you bring a case against Me?^(BA)
All of you have rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
³⁰ I have struck down your children in vain;
they would not accept discipline.^(BB)
Your own sword has devoured your prophets^(BC)
like a ravaging lion.
³¹ Evil generation,
pay attention to the word of the Lord!
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
or a land of dense darkness?^(BD)
Why do My people claim,
“We will go where we want;^[k]
we will no longer come to You”?
³² Can a young woman forget her jewelry^(BE)
or a bride her wedding sash?
Yet My people have forgotten Me^(BF)
for countless days.
³³ How skillfully you pursue love;
you also teach evil women your ways.
³⁴ Moreover, your skirts are stained
with the blood of the innocent poor.^(BG)
You did not catch them breaking and entering.^(BH)
But in spite of all these things
³⁵ you claim, “I am innocent.^(BI)
His anger is sure to turn away from me.”
But I will certainly judge you
because you have said, “I have not sinned.”^(BJ)
36 How unstable you are,^(BK)
constantly changing your ways!
You will be put to shame by Egypt^(BL)
just as you were put to shame by Assyria.
³⁷ Moreover, you will be led out from here
with your hands on your head^(BM)
since the Lord has rejected those you trust;^(BN)
you will not succeed even with their help.^[l]

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 2:6 Or shadow of death
2. Jeremiah 2:8 = in the name of
3. Jeremiah 2:10 Lit to the islands of Kittim
4. Jeremiah 2:11 Ancient Jewish tradition reads My
5. Jeremiah 2:14 Lit born of a house
6. Jeremiah 2:18 Lit of Shihor
7. Jeremiah 2:20 LXX reads you
8. Jeremiah 2:20 LXX reads you
9. Jeremiah 2:24 Lit donkey taught
10. Jeremiah 2:24 Lit her month
11. Jeremiah 2:31 Or We have taken control, or We can roam
12. Jeremiah 2:37 Lit with them

Cross references

1. 2:2 : Ezk 16:8, 60; Hos 2:15; Rv 2:4
2. 2:3 : Dt 7:6
3. 2:3 : Jms 1:18
4. 2:3 : Gn 12:3; Ps 105:14-15; Is 41:11
5. 2:5 : Is 5:4; Mc 6:3
6. 2:5 : 2Kg 17:15; Jr 2:25; Hs 2:5
7. 2:5 : Ps 115:8; Hs 9:10; Rm 1:21
8. 2:6 : Jdg 6:13; Jb 35:10
9. 2:6 : Dt 8:15; 32:10
10. 2:7 : Ex 3:8; Dt 8:7-10; Jr 4:26
11. 2:7 : Nm 35:33; Ezk 36:17
12. 2:7 : Jr 16:18
13. 2:8 : Hs 4:6; Mal 2:7; Lk 11:52
14. 2:8 : Jr 23:1-4; Ezk 34
15. 2:8 : Jr 2:23; 9:14
16. 2:8 : Hab 2:8
17. 2:9 : Ex 20:5; Is 3:13; Mc 6:1-8
18. 2:10 : Gn 10:4; Nm 24:24; Is 23:1, 12; Am 6:2; Ac 13:4
19. 2:10 : Ps 120:5
20. 2:11 : Mc 4:5
21. 2:11 : Jr 16:20; Gl 4:8
22. 2:11 : Ps 106:20; Hs 4:7; Rm 1:23; 1Pt 1:18
23. 2:12 : Dt 32:1; Is 1:2; Mc 6:1
24. 2:13 : Jdg 10:13
25. 2:13 : Ps 36:9; Jr 17:13; Jn 4:10
26. 2:13 : Is 55:2; Gl 1:6-7
27. 2:15 : Is 5:29
28. 2:15 : Is 1:7
29. 2:16 : Jr 44:1; 46:14, 19; Ezk 30:13, 16, 18
30. 2:17 : Jr 4:18
31. 2:18 : Is 30:1-2; 31:1
32. 2:18 : Hs 7:11
33. 2:18 : Is 8:7
34. 2:19 : Is 3:9; Hs 5:5
35. 2:19 : Jr 4:18
36. 2:20 : Lv 26:13; Is 10:27; Nah 1:13
37. 2:20 : Dt 12:2; 1Kg 14:23; 2Kg 17:10; Is 57:5; Jr 3:6; Ezk 6:13; Hs 4:13
38. 2:20 : Ezk 16:28; Hs 2:5
39. 2:21 : Gn 49:11; Ps 80:8; Is 5:2
40. 2:21 : Is 5:4
41. 2:22 : Ps 51:2, 7; Mal 3:2; Eph 5:26
42. 2:22 : Ps 90:8
43. 2:23 : Jr 2:8; 9:14
44. 2:23 : Gn 3:13; 1Sm 15:13; Pr 28:13; Jr 3:13; 1Jn 1:8
45. 2:24 : Jb 39:5; Hs 8:9
46. 2:25 : Jr 18:12
47. 2:25 : Dt 32:16; Jr 3:13
48. 2:26 : Jr 2:36; 6:15; 8:9, 12; Rm 6:21
49. 2:26 : Ezr 9:7
50. 2:27 : 2Ch 29:6; Jr 18:17; 32:33; Ezk 8:16
51. 2:27 : Jdg 10:9-10; Is 26:16
52. 2:28 : Dt 32:37-38; Jdg 10:14; Is 45:20
53. 2:29 : Jr 2:9
54. 2:30 : Pr 3:11; Is 1:5; 9:13; Jr 5:3; 17:23; 32:33; Am 4:10
55. 2:30 : Mt 23:34
56. 2:31 : Jr 50:12; Hs 2:3
57. 2:32 : Is 61:10
58. 2:32 : Ps 106:21; Jr 13:25; 18:15; Ezk 22:12; 23:35; Hs 8:14
59. 2:34 : 2Kg 21:16; 24:4; Ps 106:38; Jr 19:4; 22:3, 17
60. 2:34 : Ex 22:2
61. 2:35 : Jb 33:9
62. 2:35 : Pr 28:13; 1Jn 1:8, 10
63. 2:36 : Jms 1:8
64. 2:36 : Is 30:3
65. 2:37 : 2Sm 13:19
66. 2:37 : 1Sm 15:23, 26; 2Kg 17:20; Jr 7:29