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1Yahweh spoke these words to me:
2“Go, preach this message publicly for all Jerusalem to hear: ‘Yahweh says to you:[#2:2 Jeremiah began his first sermon with an impassioned plea for Israel to forsake her shameless idolatry. Jeremiah compared Israel to a wife who forsakes her husband for promiscuous affairs with men. Jeremiah charged his people with unfaithfulness to God and warned Israel of the coming Babylonian invasion. In contrast to Hezekiah’s response to Isaiah’s warnings that saved Judah from the Assyrians, Jeremiah’s warnings went unheeded. For twenty chapters Jeremiah appealed, pleaded, and warned with strong words and, at times, with tenderness of heart, but still Israel would not listen to the young prophet whom God had sent to them.]
“ ‘I fondly remember the single-hearted devotion
you had for me in your youth.
You loved me deeply as a bride loves a bridegroom.
You followed me closely in the desert,
in a land where no crops grow.
3Israel, like the firstfruits of my harvest,
I set you apart, and you belonged to me alone.
Anyone who devoured you I made to suffer,
and I rained disaster down upon them.
I, Yahweh , have spoken.’ ”
4Jacob’s tribes, listen! Every clan of Israel, listen to the words of Yahweh .
5He declares to you:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
that they would run so far away from me?
They left me to follow worthless idols
and themselves became worthless!
6They never stopped to ask themselves,
‘Where is Yahweh , who rescued us from Egypt?
Where is the Yahweh who led us through the wilderness,
through a barren wasteland with its pits and problems?
Where is the one who led us
through a land of deserts and droughts,
dangers and deep darkness —
where no one lives nor even passes through?’
7“I brought you to this land of abundance
to enjoy its lush fruit and goodness,
but you entered the land and defiled my land.
You made hideous the very land I call my own.
8The priests did not stop and ask,
‘Where is Yahweh ?’
The scribal scholars did not intimately know me.
The shepherds of the people rebelled against me.
The false prophets prophesied by the spirit of Baal,
and they worshiped idols that could not help them.
9Therefore I, Yahweh , will bring charges against you once more,
and not only against you but against your descendants as well.
I, Yahweh , have spoken.”
10“Go off to the Greek islands and investigate for yourselves.[#2:10 Or “the coastlines/islands of the Kittites [Cyprus],” a metonymy for the Greek isles.]
Take a close look at Kedar also
and observe very carefully.
Has there ever been anything as disgusting as this?
11Has a nation ever traded in its gods
(even though they are not really gods)?
But my people have bartered away their glory
in exchange for gods who do nothing.
12Be appalled, O heavens, and cringe with fear!
Be shocked and utterly devastated at this betrayal !
I, Yahweh , have spoken.
13“My people are guilty of a double sin:
they have abandoned me, the Spring of Living Water,
and they have dug for themselves cisterns —
cracked cisterns that hold no water.”
14“Is Israel a slave? Was he born a slave?
Why, then, has he been seized like prey?
15His enemies have raged against him,
roaring like fierce lions.
They leveled his cities, left them without inhabitants,
and devastated his land.
16Moreover, Egyptian armies will march from Memphis and Tahpanhes.[#2:16 Memphis was once the capital of Lower Egypt and the place where the kings of Egypt resided. Tahpanhes was a major city on the Nile delta on the caravan route to Israel and Mesopotamia.]
They will come and shave your head bald.
17Israel, you have no one to blame but yourselves!
You stubbornly turned away even though Yahweh , your God,
was leading you the right way.
18Why, then, would you now go down to Egypt
to drink the waters of the Nile?
Why would you go to Assyria
to drink from the river Euphrates?
19Your own wickedness punishes you.
Your own unfaithfulness rebukes you.
Look deep into your heart and you will learn
how evil and bitter it is
to forsake me, Yahweh your God,
and have no awe of me.
I, Yahweh , Commander of Angel Armies, have spoken.”
20“Long ago, you broke your bond with me and severed ties.[#2:20 Or “you broke your yoke and tore off your straps.”]
You boldly said, ‘I will not serve you !’
Yet, on every high hill and under every green tree,
you offered yourself to other gods .
You were like a prostitute sprawled out awaiting sex.
21I planted you like a special vine[#2:21 See Gen. 49:11; Isa. 5:1–2; John 15:1–10.]
from the absolute best seed,
but look at what you’ve become now!
You’re like a twisted, rotten vine.
22Even if you scrubbed yourself with the strongest soap,
your guilty stains would remain before my face.
I, Lord Yahweh , have spoken.
23“How dare you say, ‘I have not defiled myself.
I’ve not chased after false gods.’
Look how you behaved badly in the valley.
Don’t you realize what you’ve done?
You’re like a restless wild camel running loose
24or like a wild female donkey
accustomed to the wilderness.
While in heat, she sniffs the wind,
and in her lust, no one can restrain her.
Any male that wants her will find her ready.
25Israel , don’t chase after other gods
until you wear out your sandals
and your throats are parched with thirst.
Yet, you still say,
‘It’s hopeless; I can’t stop chasing them.
I desperately love these foreign gods.’ ”
26“Just as a thief is ashamed when caught in the act,
so all Israel will be shamed—
your kings and princes, your prophets and priests.
27You have called an idol of wood your ‘father’
and an idol of stone your ‘mother.’
You have turned your back toward me instead of your face.
But how different it is when you get into trouble!
You cry out to me and ask me to come and save you.
28Now where are all your homemade gods?
They are nowhere to be found.
Let them arise and save you in your time of trouble!
Judah, you have as many gods as you have villages!
29What right do you have to complain about me?
You have all rebelled against me,” declares Yahweh .
30“I’ve wasted my time punishing you
because you did not respond to my correction.
With the ferocity of a hungry lion,
you murdered the prophets I sent to you.
31“O people of this generation,
see the word of Yahweh :
Have I been like a wilderness to Israel
or a dangerous land full of gloom?
Then why do my people say,
‘We’re free to do as we want,
and we have no intention of returning to serve you anymore.’
32Does a young woman disregard her engagement ring,
or does a bride forget about her wedding dress?
Yet, my people have continually forgotten me.
33How skillfully you pursue your lovers;
even the worst adulterers could learn from you.
34Your clothes are stained
with the lifeblood of the helpless and innocent,
though you did not catch them breaking into your home .
Despite all your guilt,
35you dare to say, ‘I’m innocent!
Yahweh is not angry with me anymore.’
But watch out! I, Yahweh , will judge you for perjury
because you say: ‘I have not sinned.’
36Look how you cheapen yourself
by constantly shifting your course.
Egypt will put you to shame just as Assyria did.
37You will turn away from Egypt utterly humiliated,[#2:37 Or “You will turn away from Egypt with your hands upon your heads [a figure of speech for shame and disappointment].”]
for I, Yahweh , have completely rejected those you trust.
No alliance will be able to help you!”