Jeremiah 2:13

Jeremiah 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Context of Jeremiah 2:13

11Has a nation [ever] changed gods Even though they were not gods [but merely man-made objects]? But My people have exchanged their Glory (the true God) For that [man-made idol] which does not benefit [them]. 12Be appalled, O heavens, at this; Be shocked and shudder with horror [at the behavior of the people],” says the Lord. “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned (rejected) Me, The fountain of living water, And they have carved out their own cisterns, Broken cisterns That cannot hold water. 14“Is Israel a servant? Is he a slave by birth? Why has he become a captive and a prey? 15The young lions have roared at him, They have made their voices heard and roared loudly. And they have made his land a waste; His cities have been destroyed and are burned ruins, without inhabitant.

Jeremiah 2:13 word by word

כִּֽי־שְׁתַּ֥יִם רָע֖וֹת עָשָׂ֣ה עַמִּ֑י אֹתִ֨י עָזְב֜וּ מְק֣וֹר׀ מַ֣יִם חַיִּ֗ים לַחְצֹ֤ב לָהֶם֙ בֹּאר֔וֹת בֹּארֹת֙ נִשְׁבָּרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־יָכִ֖לוּ הַמָּֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• have committedעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• evilsרָעָהra‛ râ‛âh · distress: evilH7451
• they have forsakenעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• me the fountainמָקוֹרmâqôr mâqôr · fountainH4726
• of livingחַיchay · aliveH2416
• watersמַיmayim · waterH4325
• hewed them outחָצַבchâtsab châtsêb · to hewH2672
• cisternsבֹּארbô'r · cisternH877
• brokenשָׁבַרshâbar · to breakH7665
• that can holdכּוּלkûl · to sustainH3557

Cross-references for Jeremiah 2:13

• Jeremiah 2:31O generation [that you are], consider and regard carefully the word of the Lord. Have I been a wilderness to Israel [like a land without food], A land of thick and deep darkness [like a path without light]? Why do My people say, ‘We [have broken loose and we] are free to roam [at will]; We will no longer come to You’?
• Jeremiah 4:22“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah]; “They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good.”
• Jeremiah 5:26For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers who lie in wait; They set a trap, They catch men.
• Psalms 81:11“But My people would not listen to My voice, And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.
• Isaiah 1:3The ox [instinctively] knows its owner, And the donkey its master’s feeding trough, But Israel does not know [Me as Lord], My people do not understand.”
• Isaiah 5:13Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God]; And their honorable men are famished, And their common people are parched with thirst.
• Isaiah 63:8For He said, “Be assured, they are My people, Sons who will not be faithless.” So He became their Savior [in all their distresses].
• Micah 2:8But lately My people have stood up as an enemy [and have made Me their antagonist]. You strip the ornaments off the garment Of those unsuspecting passers-by, Like those returned from war.
• Micah 6:3O My people, what have I done to you [since you have turned away from Me]? And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
• Jeremiah 2:17Have you not brought this on yourself By abandoning (rejecting) the Lord your God When He led you in the way?
• Jeremiah 1:16I will speak My judgments against them for all the wickedness of those who have abandoned (rejected) Me, offered sacrifices or burned incense to other gods, and worshiped the [idolatrous] works of their own hands.
• Jeremiah 15:6You have abandoned (rejected) Me,” says the Lord. “You keep going backward. Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!
• Judges 10:13Yet you have abandoned (rejected) Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer rescue you.
• 1 Samuel 12:10They cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘We have sinned because we have abandoned (rejected) the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now rescue us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You.’
• Jeremiah 17:13O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who abandon You will be shamed. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
• Jeremiah 18:14Will the snow of [Mount] Lebanon melt and vanish from its rocks [which tower above Israel]? Will the cold, rushing waters of foreign lands [that flow down from the distant land] be dried up?

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Two evils - First, they forsook God, the Fountain of life, light, prosperity, and happiness. Secondly, they hewed out broken cisterns; they joined themselves to idols, from whom they could receive neither temporal nor spiritual good! Their conduct was the excess of folly and blindness. What we call here broken cisterns, means more properly such vessels as were ill made, not staunch, ill put together, so that the water leaked through them.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13The pagan are guilty of but one sin - idolatry; the covenant-people commit two - they abandon the true God; they serve idols. Fountain - Not a spring or natural fountain, but a tank or reservoir dug in the ground (see Jeremiah 6:7), and chiefly intended for storing living waters, i. e., those of springs and rivulets. The cistern was used for storing up rain-water only, and therefore the quantity it contained was limited.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-13Verses 9-13 Before God punishes sinners, he pleads with them, to bring them to repentance. He pleads with us, what we should plead with ourselves. Be afraid to think of the wrath and curse which will be the portion of those who throw themselves out of God's grace and favour. Grace in Christ is compared to water from a fountain, it being cooling and refreshing, cleansing and making fruitful: to living water, because it quickens dead sinners, revives…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13The Israelites made two unwise choices: They left the Lord, their true source of life Thet started worshipping false gods that could not help them A fountain of living (running) water that flows all year, even during droughts, is a rare treasure (Psalm 36:9; John 4:14). The cisterns the Israelites built after entering Canaan were holes in the ground lined with plaster. These simple tanks collected rainwater from roofs during wet weather and provided water…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. two evils--not merely one evil, like the idolaters who know no better; besides simple idolatry, My people add the sin of forsaking the true God whom they have known; the heathen, though having the sin of idolatry, are free from the further sin of changing the true God for idols (Jr 2:11). forsaken me--The Hebrew collocation brings out the only living God into more prominent contrast with idol nonentities. "Me they have forsaken, the Fountain," &c. (Jr…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 2:13

• Backsliders
• Church
• Cistern
• Confidence
• Fountain
• Self-Righteousness

In the dictionaries

• Attire
• Bitter
• Cistern
• Cry
• Degenerate
• Handle
• Hold
• Holiness
• Noble
• Atheism

Commentaries on Jeremiah 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings