Jeremiah 2:1-7

1The word of the Lord came to me:

2“Go and announce directly to Jerusalem that this is what the Lord says: I remember the loyalty of your youth, your love as a bride — how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

3Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it found themselves guilty; disaster came on them.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

4Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob and all families of the house of Israel.

5This is what the Lord says: What fault did your ancestors find in me that they went so far from me, followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?

6They stopped asking, “Where is the Lord who brought us from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, through a land of drought and darkness, a land no one traveled through and where no one lived?”

7I brought you to a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but after you entered, you defiled my land; you made my inheritance detestable.