Jeremiah 2:2-25 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

ACV⁽ⁱ⁾ ² Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says LORD, I remember for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, how thou went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. ³ Israel was holiness to LORD, the first-fruits of his increase. All who devour him shall be held guilty. Evil shall come upon them, says LORD. ⁴ Hear ye the word of LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵ Thus says LORD: What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they have gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and have become vain? ⁶ Nor did they say, Where is LORD who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who 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 none passed through, and where no man dwelt? ⁷ And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit of it and the goodness of it. But when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. ⁸ The priests did not say, Where is LORD? And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me. And the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. ⁹ Therefore I will yet contend with you, says LORD, and I will contend with your son's sons. ¹⁰ For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see, and send to Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. ¹¹ Has a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. ¹² Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. Be ye very desolate, says LORD. 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. ¹⁴ Is Israel a servant? Is he a homebred one? Why has he become a prey? ¹⁵ The young lions have roared upon him, and yelled, and they have made his land waste. His cities are burned up, without inhabitant. ¹⁶ The sons also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head. ¹⁷ Have thou not procured this to thyself, in that thou have forsaken LORD thy God when he led thee by the way? ¹⁸ And now what have thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? Or what have thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River? ¹⁹ Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou have forsaken LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, says the Lord, LORD of hosts. ²⁰ For from old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds. And thou said, I will not serve, for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou bowed thyself, playing the harlot. ²¹ Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed. How then have thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me? ²² For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, says the lord LORD. ²³ How can thou say, I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Baalim? See thy way in the valley. Know what thou have done, a swift dromedary traversing her ways, ²⁴ a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs up the wind in her desire. In her time of estrus who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month they shall find her. ²⁵ Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst. But thou said, It is in vain. No, for I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.