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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Jeremiah 2 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/jeremiah/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" 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href="../jeremiah/1.htm" title="Jeremiah 1">◄</a> Jeremiah 2 <a href="../jeremiah/3.htm" title="Jeremiah 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/jeremiah/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">Israel Forsakes God</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>The word of the <span class="name">Lord</span> came to me: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:</p><p class="reg">“This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth,</p><p class="line2">how as a bride you loved me</p><p class="line1">and followed me through the wilderness,</p><p class="line2">through a land not sown.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Israel was holy to the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">the firstfruits of his harvest;</p><p class="line1">all who devoured her were held guilty,</p><p class="line2">and disaster overtook them,’ ”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Hear the word of the <span class="name">Lord</span>, you descendants of Jacob,</p><p class="line2">all you clans of Israel.</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“What fault did your ancestors find in me,</p><p class="line2">that they strayed so far from me?</p><p class="line1">They followed worthless idols</p><p class="line2">and became worthless themselves.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>They did not ask, ‘Where is the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">who brought us up out of Egypt</p><p class="line1">and led us through the barren wilderness,</p><p class="line2">through a land of deserts and ravines,</p><p class="line1">a land of drought and utter darkness,</p><p class="line2">a land where no one travels and no one lives?’</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>I brought you into a fertile land</p><p class="line2">to eat its fruit and rich produce.</p><p class="line1">But you came and defiled my land</p><p class="line2">and made my inheritance detestable.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>The priests did not ask,</p><p class="line2">‘Where is the <span class="name">Lord</span>?’</p><p class="line1">Those who deal with the law did not know me;</p><p class="line2">the leaders rebelled against me.</p><p class="line1">The prophets prophesied by Baal,</p><p class="line2">following worthless idols.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“Therefore I bring charges against you again,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p><p class="line2">“And I will bring charges against your children’s children.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus and look,</p><p class="line2">send to Kedar <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="In the Syro-Arabian desert">a</a></sup></span> and observe closely;</p><p class="line2">see if there has ever been anything like this:</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Has a nation ever changed its gods?</p><p class="line2">(Yet they are not gods at all.)</p><p class="line1">But my people have exchanged their glorious God</p><p class="line2">for worthless idols.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Be appalled at this, you heavens,</p><p class="line2">and shudder with great horror,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>“My people have committed two sins:</p><p class="line1">They have forsaken me,</p><p class="line2">the spring of living water,</p><p class="line1">and have dug their own cisterns,</p><p class="line2">broken cisterns that cannot hold water.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Is Israel a servant, a slave by birth?</p><p class="line2">Why then has he become plunder?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Lions have roared;</p><p class="line2">they have growled at him.</p><p class="line1">They have laid waste his land;</p><p class="line2">his towns are burned and deserted.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Also, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes</p><p class="line2">have cracked your skull.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Have you not brought this on yourselves</p><p class="line2">by forsaking the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God</p><p class="line2">when he led you in the way?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>Now why go to Egypt</p><p class="line2">to drink water from the Nile <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew Shihor; that is, a branch of the Nile">b</a></sup></span> ?</p><p class="line1">And why go to Assyria</p><p class="line2">to drink water from the Euphrates?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Your wickedness will punish you;</p><p class="line2">your backsliding will rebuke you.</p><p class="line1">Consider then and realize</p><p class="line2">how evil and bitter it is for you</p><p class="line1">when you forsake the <span class="name">Lord</span> your God</p><p class="line2">and have no awe of me,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the Lord, the <span class="name">Lord</span> Almighty.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“Long ago you broke off your yoke</p><p class="line2">and tore off your bonds;</p><p class="line2">you said, ‘I will not serve you!’</p><p class="line1">Indeed, on every high hill</p><p class="line2">and under every spreading tree</p><p class="line2">you lay down as a prostitute.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>I had planted you like a choice vine</p><p class="line2">of sound and reliable stock.</p><p class="line1">How then did you turn against me</p><p class="line2">into a corrupt, wild vine?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Although you wash yourself with soap</p><p class="line2">and use an abundance of cleansing powder,</p><p class="line2">the stain of your guilt is still before me,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the Sovereign <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;</p><p class="line2">I have not run after the Baals’?</p><p class="line1">See how you behaved in the valley;</p><p class="line2">consider what you have done.</p><p class="line1">You are a swift she-camel</p><p class="line2">running here and there,</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>a wild donkey accustomed to the desert,</p><p class="line2">sniffing the wind in her craving—</p><p class="line2">in her heat who can restrain her?</p><p class="line1">Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;</p><p class="line2">at mating time they will find her.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>Do not run until your feet are bare</p><p class="line2">and your throat is dry.</p><p class="line1">But you said, ‘It’s no use!</p><p class="line2">I love foreign gods,</p><p class="line2">and I must go after them.’</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught,</p><p class="line2">so the people of Israel are disgraced—</p><p class="line1">they, their kings and their officials,</p><p class="line2">their priests and their prophets.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>They say to wood, ‘You are my father,’</p><p class="line2">and to stone, ‘You gave me birth.’</p><p class="line1">They have turned their backs to me</p><p class="line2">and not their faces;</p><p class="line1">yet when they are in trouble, they say,</p><p class="line2">‘Come and save us!’</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?</p><p class="line2">Let them come if they can save you</p><p class="line2">when you are in trouble!</p><p class="line1">For you, Judah, have as many gods</p><p class="line2">as you have towns.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>“Why do you bring charges against me?</p><p class="line2">You have all rebelled against me,”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“In vain I punished your people;</p><p class="line2">they did not respond to correction.</p><p class="line1">Your sword has devoured your prophets</p><p class="line2">like a ravenous lion.</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>“You of this generation, consider the word of the <span class="name">Lord</span>:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“Have I been a desert to Israel</p><p class="line2">or a land of great darkness?</p><p class="line1">Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;</p><p class="line2">we will come to you no more’?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Does a young woman forget her jewelry,</p><p class="line2">a bride her wedding ornaments?</p><p class="line1">Yet my people have forgotten me,</p><p class="line2">days without number.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>How skilled you are at pursuing love!</p><p class="line2">Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>On your clothes is found</p><p class="line2">the lifeblood of the innocent poor,</p><p class="line2">though you did not catch them breaking in.</p><p class="line1">Yet in spite of all this</p> <p class="line2"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-35.htm"><b>35</b></a></span>you say, ‘I am innocent;</p><p class="line2">he is not angry with me.’</p><p class="line1">But I will pass judgment on you</p><p class="line2">because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-36.htm"><b>36</b></a></span>Why do you go about so much,</p><p class="line2">changing your ways?</p><p class="line1">You will be disappointed by Egypt</p><p class="line2">as you were by Assyria.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/2-37.htm"><b>37</b></a></span>You will also leave that place</p><p class="line2">with your hands on your head,</p><p class="line1">for the <span class="name">Lord</span> has rejected those you trust;</p><p class="line2">you will not be helped by them.</p></div><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">10</span> <span class="footnotebot">In the Syro-Arabian desert</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">18</span> <span class="footnotebot">Hebrew <i>Shihor</i>; that is, a branch of the Nile</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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