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Jeremiah 2:23-3:5
New International Version
Jeremiah 2:23-3:5
New International Version
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled;(A)
I have not run after the Baals’?(B)
See how you behaved in the valley;(C)
consider what you have done.
You are a swift she-camel
running(D) here and there,
24 a wild donkey(E) accustomed to the desert,(F)
sniffing the wind in her craving—
in her heat who can restrain her?
Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves;
at mating time they will find her.
25 Do not run until your feet are bare
and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!(G)
I love foreign gods,(H)
and I must go after them.’(I)
26 “As a thief is disgraced(J) when he is caught,
so the people of Israel are disgraced—
they, their kings and their officials,
their priests(K) and their prophets.(L)
27 They say to wood,(M) ‘You are my father,’
and to stone,(N) ‘You gave me birth.’
They have turned their backs(O) to me
and not their faces;(P)
yet when they are in trouble,(Q) they say,
‘Come and save(R) us!’
28 Where then are the gods(S) you made for yourselves?
Let them come if they can save you
when you are in trouble!(T)
For you, Judah, have as many gods
as you have towns.(U)
29 “Why do you bring charges against me?
You have all(V) rebelled against me,”
declares the Lord.
30 “In vain I punished your people;
they did not respond to correction.(W)
Your sword has devoured your prophets(X)
like a ravenous lion.
31 “You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:
“Have I been a desert to Israel
or a land of great darkness?(Y)
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
we will come to you no more’?(Z)
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten(AA) me,
days without number.
33 How skilled you are at pursuing(AB) love!
Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
34 On your clothes is found
the lifeblood(AC) of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.(AD)
Yet in spite of all this
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;(AE)
he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment(AF) on you
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’(AG)
36 Why do you go about so much,
changing(AH) your ways?
You will be disappointed by Egypt(AI)
as you were by Assyria.
37 You will also leave that place
with your hands on your head,(AJ)
for the Lord has rejected those you trust;
you will not be helped(AK) by them.
3 “If a man divorces(AL) his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?(AM)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers(AN)—
would you now return to me?”(AO)
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heights(AP) and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside(AQ) you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land(AR)
with your prostitution(AS) and wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,(AT)
and no spring rains(AU) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen(AV) look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.(AW)
4 Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father,(AX) my friend from my youth,(AY)
5 will you always be angry?(AZ)
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”
Jeremiah 2:23-3:5
King James Version
Jeremiah 2:23-3:5
King James Version
23 How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways;
24 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.
25 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.
26 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.
27 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.
28 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.
29 Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the Lord.
30 In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
31 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?
32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
33 Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.
34 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.
35 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.
36 Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
37 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.
3 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord.
2 Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.
4 Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?
5 Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest.
New International Version (NIV) 
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