Jeremiah

JEREMIAH 1:19
against everyone in the land,
against the kings of the land of Judah,
the leaders of Judah,
the priests of Judah,
and against the people of the land of
Judah.
19 All those people will fight against you,
but they will not defeat you,
because I am with you,
and I will save you.”
This message is from the Lord.
Judah Was Not Faithful
2 1The Lord’s message came to me: 2“Jeremiah,
go and speak to the people of Jerusalem.
Say to them:
“ ‘At the time you were a young nation, you
were faithful to me.
You followed me like a young bride.
You followed me through the desert,
through a land that had never been used
for farmland.
3 The people of Israel* were a holy gift to
the Lord.
They were the first fruit to be gathered
by the Lord.
Any people who tried to hurt them were
judged guilty.
Bad things happened to those wicked
people.’”
This message is from the Lord.
4 Family of Jacob,* hear the Lord’s message.
Tribes of Israel, listen.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“ Do you think that I was not fair to your
ancestors*?
Is that why they turned away from me?
Your ancestors worshiped worthless
idols,*
and they became worthless themselves.
6 Your ancestors did not say,
‘ The Lord brought us out of Egypt.
He led us through the desert,
through a dry and rocky land.
He led us through a dark and dangerous
land.
No one lives there;
people don’t even travel through that
land.
But the Lord led us through that land.
So where is he now?’
7 “ I brought you into a good land,
a land filled with many good things.
I did this so that you could eat the fruit
and crops that grow there.
But you only made my land ‘dirty.’
I gave that land to you,
but you made it a bad place.
8 “ The priests did not ask,
‘ Where is the Lord?’
596
The people who know the law did not
want to know me.
The leaders of the people of Israel
turned against me.
The prophets spoke a in the name of the
false god Baal.*
They worshiped worthless idols.”
9 The Lord says, “So now I will accuse you
again,
and I will also accuse your
grandchildren.
10 Go across the sea to the Islands of
Kittim. b
Send someone to the land of Kedar.*
Look very carefully.
See if anyone has ever done anything
like this.
11 Has any nation ever stopped worshiping
their old gods
so that they could worship new gods?
No! And their gods are not really gods at
all!
But my people stopped worshiping their
glorious God
and started worshiping idols that are
worth nothing.
12 “ Skies, be shocked at what happened!
Shake with great fear!”
This message is from the Lord.
13 “ My people have done two evil things.
They turned away from me,
and they dug their own water cisterns. c
I am the source of living water;
those cisterns are broken and cannot
hold water.
14 “ Israel is not a slave, is he?
He was not born a slave, was he?
Then why did the enemy carry him away
as a captive?
15 Like a lion the enemy has roared at Israel.
They have destroyed your d land.
Your cities have been burned,
and no one is left in them.
16 People from Memphis and Tahpanhes e
have smashed the top of your head.
17 This trouble is your own fault.
The Lord your God was leading you the
right way, f
but you turned away from him.
a 2:8 spoke Or “prophesied.”
b 2:10 Islands of Kittim The name means the Island
of Cyprus. But the name was often used for the
other islands and coastlands of the Mediterranean
Sea.
c 2:13 they dug … cisterns That is, they made false
gods.
d 2:15 your Hebrew, “his,” referring to “Israel,” which
here means his people, as in verse 16.
e 2:16 Memphis and Tahpanhes Two cities in Egypt.
f 2:17 was leading … way This is not in the ancient
Greek version.