Jeremiah 2:1-7

1The Lord spoke his word to me,

2“Go and announce to Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth, the love you had for me as a bride. I remember how you followed me into the desert, into a land that couldn’t be farmed.

3Israel was set apart for the Lord. It was the best part of the harvest. All who devoured it became guilty, and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the Lord.

4Listen to the Lord’s word, descendants of Jacob, all the families in the nation of Israel.

5This is what the Lord says: What did your ancestors find wrong with me that they went so far away from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

6They didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord, who brought us from Egypt? He led us through the desert, through a wasteland and its pits, a land of drought and the shadow of death. No one lives there or travels there.”

7I brought them into a fertile land to eat its fruit and its produce. They came and made my land unclean. They made my property disgusting.