And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, I remember {Or, concerning}for thee the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals; how thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Israel was holiness unto Jehovah, the first-fruits of his increase: all that devour him shall be held guilty; evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah.
Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel:
Thus saith Jehovah, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?
Neither said they, Where is Jehovah 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 {Or, deep darkness}the shadow of death, through a land that none passed through, and where no man dwelt?
And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests said not, Where is Jehovah? and they that handle the law knew me not: the {Hebrew: shepherds.}rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.
Wherefore I will yet contend with you, saith Jehovah, and with your children's children will I contend.
For pass over to the isles of Kittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently; and see if there hath been such a thing.
Hath a nation changed its gods, which yet are no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith Jehovah.
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.
Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born slave? why is he become a prey?
The young lions have roared upon him, and {Hebrew: given out their voice.}yelled; and they have made his land waste: his cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have {Or, fed on}broken the crown of thy head.
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, when he led thee by the way?
And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the {That is, the Nile.}Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of {That is, the Euphrates.}the River?
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
For of old time {Or, thou hast}I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bonds; and thou saidst, I will not {Another reading is, transgress.}serve; for upon every high hill and under every green tree thou didst bow thyself, playing the harlot.
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine unto me?
For though thou wash thee with lye, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord Jehovah.
How canst thou say, I am not defiled, I have not gone after the Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift {Or, young camel}dromedary traversing her ways;
a wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind in her desire; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, It is in vain; no, for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go.
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;
who say to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast {Or, begotten me}brought {Another reading is, us.}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.
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.
Wherefore will ye contend with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith Jehovah.
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no {Or, instruction}correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
O generation, see ye the word of Jehovah. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? or a land of {Or, darkness of Jah}thick darkness? wherefore say my people, We are broken loose; we will come no more unto thee?
Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
How trimmest thou thy way to seek love! therefore even the wicked women hast thou taught thy ways.
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor: {Or, I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these}thou didst not find them breaking in; but it is because of all these things.
Yet thou saidst, I am innocent; surely his anger is turned away from me. Behold, I will enter into judgment with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned.
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt also, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
From thence also shalt thou go forth, with thy hands upon thy head: for Jehovah hath rejected those in whom thou trustest, and thou shalt not prosper with them.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 2,3 Jer 2,3
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession {Or, above}from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine:
Thou shalt not delay to offer of {Hebrew: thy fullness and thy tear.}thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses. The first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.
Thus saith Jehovah against all mine evil neighbors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them.
and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
and the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labors, which thou sowest in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when thou gatherest in thy labors out of the field.
All that found them have devoured them; and their adversaries said, We are not guilty, because they have sinned against Jehovah, the habitation of righteousness, even Jehovah, the hope of their fathers.
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, {Or, out of}above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
All the {Hebrew: fat.}best of the oil, and all the {Hebrew: fat.}best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first-fruits of them which they give unto Jehovah, to thee have I given them.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born:
For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, and Jehovah hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, {Or, out of}above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.
Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and to them that are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
and I have said unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go: behold, I will slay thy son, thy first-born.
and to make thee high above all nations that he hath made, {Or, for a praise, and for a name, and for an honor}in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto Jehovah thy God, as he hath spoken.
And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
I would soon subdue their enemies,And turn my hand against their adversaries.
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLY UNTO JEHOVAH; and the pots in Jehovah's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
and salute the church that is in their house. Salute Epænetus my beloved, who is the first-fruits of Asia unto Christ.
The haters of Jehovah should {Or, yield feigned obedience Hebrew: lie.}submit themselves unto him:But their time should endure for ever.
Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holy unto Jehovah of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and boil therein: and in that day there shall be no more a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah of hosts.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
He suffered no man to do them wrong;Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before {Or, him: having in love foreordained us}him in love:
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,And do my prophets no harm.
But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
He turned their heart to hate his people,To deal subtly with his servants.
He sent Moses his servant,And Aaron whom he had chosen.
They set among them {Hebrew: the words of his signs.}his signs,And wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made it dark;And they rebelled not against his words.
He turned their waters into blood,And slew their fish.
Their land swarmed with frogsIn the chambers of their kings.
He spake, and there came swarms of flies,And lice in all their borders.
He gave them hail for rain,And flaming fire in their land.
He smote their vines also and their fig-trees,And brake the trees of their borders.
He spake, and the locust came,And the grasshopper, and that without number,
And did eat up every herb in their land,And did eat up the fruit of their ground.
He smote also all the first-born in their land,The {Hebrew: beginning. See Deuteronomy 21:17.}chief of all their strength.
Behold, all they that are incensed against thee shall be put to shame and confounded: they that strive with thee shall be as nothing, and shall perish.
I was wroth with my people, I profaned mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst show them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
He hath laid my vine waste, and {Or, broken}barked my fig-tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it {Or, down}away; the branches thereof are made white.
Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
And I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they {Or, helped for evil}helped forward the affliction.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: {Or, After the glory, he hath &c.}After glory hath he sent me unto the nations which plundered you; for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and {Or, against}upon Judah also {Or, shall it fall to be}shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.
and he fell upon the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: