Jeremiah 2
The LORD Pleads with Backsliding Israel |
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Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
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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.
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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.
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Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the
house of Israel:
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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 Ba'al, and walked after things that do not
profit.
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Wherefore I will yet plead with you,
saith the LORD, and with your children's
children will I plead.
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For pass over the isles of Chittim, and
see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there
be such a thing.
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Hath a nation changed their gods,
which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory
for that which doth not profit.
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Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and
be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.
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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.
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Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled?
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The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are
burned without inhabitant.
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Also the children of Noph and Tahap'anes
have broken the crown of thy head.
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Hast thou not procured this unto thyself,
in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God,
when he led thee by the way?
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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For though thou wash thee with nitre, and
take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me,
saith the Lord GOD.
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How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I
have not gone after Ba'alim? See thy way in the valley, know what
thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her
ways;
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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.
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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.
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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,
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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.
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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.
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Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all
have transgressed against me, saith the LORD.
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In vain have I smitten your children;
they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your
prophets, like a destroying lion.
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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?
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Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days
without number.
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Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love?
therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
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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.
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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.
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Why gaddest thou about so much to change
thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed
of Assyria.
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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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