JER-2:1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
JER-2:2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith
the LORD; I
remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when
thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land [that was]
not sown.
JER-2:3 Israel [was] holiness unto the LORD, [and] the
firstfruits of his
increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon
them, saith
the LORD.
JER-2:4 Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all
the families
of the house of Israel:
JER-2:5 Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers
found in me,
that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity,
and are become
vain?
JER-2:6 Neither said they, Where [is] the LORD that brought us
up out of the
land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a
land of deserts
and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of
death, through a
land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
JER-2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the
fruit thereof
and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my
land, and made
mine heritage an abomination.
JER-2:8 The priests said not, Where [is] the LORD? and they
that handle the
law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and
the prophets
prophesied by Baal, and walked after [things that] do not profit.
JER-2:9 Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD,
and with your
children's children will I plead.
JER-2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send
unto Kedar,
and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
JER-2:11 Hath a nation changed [their] gods, which [are] yet no
gods? but my
people have changed their glory for [that which] doth not profit.
JER-2:12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly
afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith the LORD.
JER-2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken me the
fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns,
that can hold no water.
JER-2:14 [Is] Israel a servant? [is] he a homeborn [slave]? why
is he
spoiled?
JER-2:15 The young lions roared upon him, [and] yelled, and
they made his
land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant.
JER-2:16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken
the crown of thy
head.
JER-2:17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou
hast forsaken
the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
JER-2:18 And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to
drink the
waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria,
to drink the
waters of the river?
JER-2:19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy
backslidings shall
reprove thee: know therefore and see that [it is] an evil
[thing] and bitter,
that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear [is]
not in thee,
saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
JER-2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst
thy bands; and
thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill
and under every
green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.
JER-2:21 Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right
seed: how then
art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto
me?
JER-2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee
much soap, [yet]
thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.
JER-2:23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone
after Baalim?
see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: [thou art]
a swift
dromedary traversing her ways;
JER-2:24 A wild ass used to the wilderness, [that] snuffeth up
the wind at
her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they
that seek her
will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
JER-2:25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat
from thirst: but
thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers,
and after them
will I go.
JER-2:26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the
house of Israel
ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests,
and their
prophets,
JER-2:27 Saying to a stock, Thou [art] my father; and to a
stone, Thou hast
brought me forth: for they have turned [their] back unto me, and
not [their]
face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and
save us.
JER-2:28 But where [are] thy gods that thou hast made thee? let
them arise,
if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for [according
to] the
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah.
JER-2:29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have
transgressed against
me, saith the LORD.
JER-2:30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no
correction:
your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying
lion.
JER-2:31 O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been
a wilderness
unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are
lords; we
will come no more unto thee?
JER-2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, [or] a bride her
attire? yet my
people have forgotten me days without number.
JER-2:33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast
thou also
taught the wicked ones thy ways.
JER-2:34 Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of
the poor
innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all
these.
JER-2:35 Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his
anger shall turn
from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I
have not
sinned.
JER-2:36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou
also shalt be
ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
JER-2:37 Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands
upon thine head:
for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not
prosper in
them.
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