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The Blue Letter Bible

Jeremiah 2 :: Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

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Israel Accused of Apostasy
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:1 -

The word of the LORD came to me:

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:2 -

“Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says:

I remember the loyalty of your youth,

your love as a bride —

how you followed me in the wilderness,

in a land not sown.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:3 -

“Israel was holy to the LORD,

the firstfruits of his harvest.

All who ate of it found themselves guilty;

disaster came on them.”

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:4 -

Hear the word of the LORD, house of Jacob

and all families of the house of Israel.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:5 -

This is what the LORD says:

What fault did your ancestors find in me

that they went so far from me,

followed worthless idols,

and became worthless themselves?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:6 -

They stopped asking, “Where is the LORD

who brought us from the land of Egypt,

who led us through the wilderness,

through a land of deserts and ravines,

through a land of drought and darkness,[fn]

a land no one traveled through

and where no one lived? ”

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:7 -

I brought you to a fertile land

to eat its fruit and bounty,

but after you entered, you defiled my land;

you made my inheritance detestable.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:8 -

The priests quit asking, “Where is the LORD? ”

The experts in the law no longer knew me,

and the rulers rebelled against me.

The prophets prophesied by[fn] Baal

and followed useless idols.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:9 -

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.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:10 -

Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus[fn] and take a look.

Send someone to Kedar and consider carefully;

see if there has ever been anything like this:

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:11 -

Has a nation ever exchanged its gods?

(But they were not gods!)

Yet my people have exchanged their[fn] Glory

for useless idols.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:12 -

Be appalled at this, heavens;

be shocked and utterly desolated!

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:13 -

For my people have committed a double evil:

They have abandoned me,

the fountain of living water,

and dug cisterns for themselves ​— ​

cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.

Consequences of Apostasy
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:14 -

Is Israel a slave?

Was he born into slavery?[fn]

Why else has he become a prey?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:15 -

The young lions have roared at him;

they have roared loudly.

They have laid waste his land.

His cities are in ruins, without inhabitants.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:16 -

The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes

have also broken your skull.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:17 -

Have you not brought this on yourself

by abandoning the LORD your God

while he was leading you along the way?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:18 -

Now what will you gain

by traveling along the way to Egypt

to drink the water of the Nile?[fn]

What will you gain

by traveling along the way to Assyria

to drink the water of the Euphrates?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:19 -

Your own evil will discipline you;

your own apostasies will reprimand you.

Recognize[fn] how evil and bitter 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 Armies.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:20 -

For long ago I[fn] broke your yoke;

I[fn] tore off your chains.

You insisted, “I will not serve! ”

On every high hill

and under every green tree

you lay down like a prostitute.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:21 -

I planted you, a choice vine

from the very best seed.

How then could you turn into

a degenerate, foreign vine?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:22 -

Even if you wash with lye

and use a great amount of bleach,[fn]

the stain of your iniquity is still in front of me.

This is the Lord GOD’s declaration.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:23 -

How can you protest, “I am not defiled;

I have not followed the Baals”?

Look at your behavior in the valley;

acknowledge what you have done.

You are a swift young camel

twisting and turning on her way,

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:24 -

a wild donkey at home[fn] 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 weary;

they will find her in her mating season.[fn]

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:25 -

Keep your feet from going bare

and your throat from thirst.

But you say, “It’s hopeless;

I love strangers,

and I will continue to follow them.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:26 -

Like the shame of a thief when he is caught,

so the house of Israel has been put to shame.

They, their kings, their officials,

their priests, and their prophets

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:27 -

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,

yet in their time of disaster they beg,

“Rise up and save us! ”

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:28 -

But where are your gods you made for yourself?

Let them rise up and save you

in your time of disaster if they can,

for your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah.

Judgment Deserved
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:29 -

Why do you bring a case against me?

All of you have rebelled against me.

This is the LORD’s declaration.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:30 -

I have struck down your children in vain;

they would not accept discipline.

Your own sword has devoured your prophets

like a ravaging lion.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:31 -

Evil generation,

pay attention to the word of the LORD!

Have I been a wilderness to Israel

or a land of dense darkness?

Why do my people claim,

“We will go where we want;[fn]

we will no longer come to you”?

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:32 -

Can a young woman forget her jewelry

or a bride her wedding sash?

Yet my people have forgotten me

for countless days.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:33 -

How skillfully you pursue love;

you also teach evil women your ways.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:34 -

Moreover, your skirts are stained

with the blood of the innocent poor.

You did not catch them breaking and entering.

But in spite of all these things

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:35 -

you claim, “I am innocent.

His anger is sure to turn away from me.”

But I will certainly judge you

because you have said, “I have not sinned.”

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:36 -

How unstable you are,

constantly changing your ways!

You will be put to shame by Egypt

just as you were put to shame by Assyria.

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 2:37 -

Moreover, you will be led out from here

with your hands on your head

since the LORD has rejected those you trust;

you will not succeed even with their help.[fn]

CSB Footnotes
Or shadow of death
= in the name of
Lit to the islands of Kittim
Alt Hb tradition reads my
Lit born of a house
Lit of Shihor
Lit Know and see
LXX reads you
LXX reads you
Lit cleansing agent
Lit donkey taught
Lit her month
Or “We have taken control, or “We can roam
Lit with them
CSB

Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Additional information is provided here.

For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.

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Jeremiah Chapter 2 — Additional Translations: