Jeremiah 1-2

Common English Bible

Introduction

1 These are the words of Jeremiah, Hilkiah’s son, who was one of the priests from Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. ²The Lord’s word came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of Judah’s King Josiah, Amon’s son, ³and throughout the rule of Judah’s King Jehoiakim, Josiah’s son, until the fifth month of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, Josiah’s son, when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.

Call of Jeremiah

⁴The Lord’s word came to me:

⁵“Before I created you in the womb I knew you;
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I made you a prophet to the nations.”
⁶“Ah, Lord God,” I said, “I don’t know how to speak
    because I’m only a child.”
⁷The Lord responded,
    “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a child.’
        Where I send you, you must go;
        what I tell you, you must say.
⁸Don’t be afraid of them,
    because I’m with you to rescue you,”
        declares the Lord.
⁹Then the Lord stretched out his hand,
    touched my mouth, and said to me,
    “I’m putting my words in your mouth.
¹⁰This very day I appoint you over nations and empires,
    to dig up and pull down,
    to destroy and demolish,
    to build and plant.”

Jeremiah’s mission confirmed

¹¹The Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

I said, “A branch of an almond^[a] tree.”

¹²The Lord then said, “You are right, for I’m watching over^[b] my word until it is fulfilled.” ¹³The Lord asked me again, “What do you see?”

I said, “A pot boiling over from the north.”

¹⁴The Lord said to me, “Trouble will erupt from the north against the people of this land.”

¹⁵I’m calling for all the tribes of great nations from the north, says the Lord, and they will set up their rulers by the entrances of Jerusalem, on its walls, and in every city of Judah. ¹⁶I will declare my judgment against them for doing evil: for abandoning me, worshipping other gods, and trusting in the works of their hands. ¹⁷But you must prepare for battle and be ready to utter every word I command you. Don’t be frightened before them, or I will frighten you before them. ¹⁸Today I have made you an armed city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall against the entire land—the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and all its people. ¹⁹They will attack you, but they won’t defeat you, because I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord.

God’s people abandon their God

2 The Lord’s word came to me:
²Go and proclaim to the people of Jerusalem,
The Lord proclaims:
I remember your first love,^[c]
    your devotion as a young bride,
    how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in an unplanted land.
³Israel was devoted to the Lord,
    the early produce of the harvest.
Whoever ate from it became guilty;
    disaster overtook them,
        declares the Lord.
⁴Listen to the Lord’s word,
    people of Judah,
    all you families of the Israelite household.

⁵This is what the Lord says:

What wrong did your ancestors find in me
    that made them wander so far?
They pursued what was worthless
    and became worthless.
⁶They didn’t ask,
    “Where’s the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
        who led us through the wilderness,
        in a land of deserts and ravines,
        in a land of drought and darkness,
        in a land of no return,
            where no one survives?”
⁷I brought you into a land of plenty,
    to enjoy its gifts and goodness,
        but you ruined my land;
        you disgraced my heritage.
⁸The priests didn’t ask,
    “Where’s the Lord?”
Those responsible for the Instruction didn’t know me;
    the leaders rebelled against me;
    the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
        going after what has no value.
⁹That is why I will take you to court
    and charge even your descendants,
        declares the Lord.
¹⁰Look to the west as far as the shores of Cyprus
    and to the east as far as the land of Kedar.
Ask anyone there:
    Has anything this odd ever taken place?
¹¹    Has a nation switched gods,
        though they aren’t really gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glory
    for what has no value.
¹²Be stunned at such a thing, you heavens;
    shudder and quake,
        declares the Lord.
¹³My people have committed two crimes:
    They have forsaken me, the spring of living water.
    And they have dug wells, broken wells that can’t hold water.

¹⁴Is Israel a slave,
    a servant by birth?
    If not, why then has he become prey?
¹⁵Lions roar at him; they growl.
    They destroy his land
        and make his towns desolate
        until nothing is left.
¹⁶As well, the people of Memphis and Tahpanhes
    lay open your scalp.
¹⁷Haven’t you brought this on yourself
    by abandoning the Lord your God,
        who has directed your paths?
¹⁸So why take the path to Egypt
    to drink water from the Nile?
Why travel the path to Assyria
    to drink water from the Euphrates?
¹⁹Your wrongdoing will punish you.
    Your acts of unfaithfulness will find you out.
Don’t you understand how terribly bitter
    it is to abandon the Lord your God
    and not fear me?
        declares the Lord of heavenly forces.
²⁰Long ago I broke your yoke;
    I shattered your chains.
    But even then you said, “I won’t serve you.”
On every high hill and under every lush tree,
    you have acted like a prostitute.
²¹Yet it was I who planted you, a precious vine of fine quality;
    how could you turn into a wild vine
        and become good for nothing?
²²Even though you scrub yourself with soap or strong powder,
    the stain of your sin is still before me,
        declares the Lord God.
²³How can you say,
    “I’m not dirty;
    I haven’t gone after Baals.”
Look what you have done in the valley;
    consider what you have done there.
You are like a frenzied young camel,
    racing around,
²⁴    a wild donkey in the wilderness,
    lustfully sniffing the wind.
Who can restrain such passion?
    Those who desire her need not give up;
    with little effort they will find her in heat.
²⁵Don’t run about until your feet are blistered
    and your throat is parched.
But you say, “What’s the use?
    I have fallen in love with foreign gods,
        and I must pursue them.”
²⁶As a thief is ashamed when caught in his tracks,
    so the people of Israel are ashamed—
        their kings, officials, priests, and prophets—
²⁷    when they say to a piece of wood, “You are my father,”
        and to a stone, “You gave me birth.”
They have turned their backs to me
    and not their faces.
Yet in their time of trouble they say,
    “Arise and save us!”
²⁸Where are the gods
        you have made for yourselves?
    Let’s see if they will come through for you in your time of trouble.
    You have as many gods, Judah,
        as you have towns.
²⁹Why would you bring charges against me?
You have all rebelled against me,
        declares the Lord.
³⁰I have disciplined your children in vain;
    they have rejected my correction.
You have devoured your prophets
    like a hungry lion.
³¹People of this generation, listen closely to the Lord’s word:
Have I been a wasteland to Israel
    or a land of dense darkness?
Why then do my people say,
    “We have wandered far away;
    we’ll come to you no longer”?
³²Does a young woman forget her jewelry
    or a bride her wedding dress?
Yet you have forgotten me days without end!
³³    So skilled are you at pursuing lovers^[d]
        that you instruct even the most wicked.^[e]
³⁴Your garments are stained
    with the blood of the innocent poor,
        even though you didn’t catch them
        breaking and entering.
Yet, despite all this,^[f] ³⁵you still insist,
    “I’m innocent;
        as a result he will turn his anger away from me.”
Because you claim not to have sinned,
    I will pass judgment against you.
³⁶You change sides so casually!
    But Egypt will shame you
    no less than Assyria.
³⁷From there you will go out
    with your hands on your heads,
        because the Lord has rejected those you rely on;
        they won’t help you.