Living Water or broken cisterns - Jeremiah 2:1-13

Jeremiah 2:1–13 (Listen)

2:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,

  “I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
  how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.
3   Israel was holy to the LORD,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
  All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
      declares the LORD.”

4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD:

  “What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
  and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6   They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
  who led us in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
  in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
7   And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
  But when you came in, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
8   The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
    Those who handle the law did not know me;
  the shepherds transgressed against me;
    the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after things that do not profit.
9   “Therefore I still contend with you,
      declares the LORD,
    and with your children’s children I will contend.
10   For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
    or send to Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
11   Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
  But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
12   Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
      declares the LORD,
13   for my people have committed two evils:
  they have forsaken me,
    the fountain of living waters,
  and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water.

(ESV)