Broken Cisterns: Hearing Comfort in the Midst of Suffering

The word of GOD came to me, saying, Go proclaim to Jerusalem: Thus said GOD:I accounted to your favorThe devotion of your youth,Your love as a bride—How you followed Me in the wilderness,In a land not sown. Israel was holy to GOD,The first fruits of God’s harvest.All who ate of it were held guilty;Disaster befell them—declares GOD. Hear the word of GOD, O House of Jacob,Every clan of the House of Israel! Thus said GOD:What wrong did your ancestors find in MeThat they abandoned MeAnd went after delusion and were deluded? They never asked themselves, “Where is GOD,Who brought us up from the land of Egypt,Who led us through the wilderness,A land of deserts and pits,A land of drought and darkness,A land nobody had traversed,Where no human being had dwelt?” I brought you to this country of farmlandTo enjoy its fruit and its bounty;But you came and defiled My land,You made My possession abhorrent. The priests never asked themselves, “Where is GOD?”The guardians of the Teaching ignored Me;The rulers rebelled against Me,And the prophets prophesied by BaalAnd followed what can do no good. Oh, I will go on accusing you—declares GOD—And I will accuse your children’s children! Just cross over to the isles of the Kittim and look,Send to Kedar and observe carefully;See if aught like this has ever happened: Has any nation changed its godsEven though they are no-gods?But My people has exchanged its gloryFor what can do no good. Be appalled, O heavens, at this;Be horrified, utterly dazed!—says GOD. For My people have done a twofold wrong:They have forsaken Me, the Fount of living waters,And hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,That cannot even hold water. Is Israel a bondman?Is he a home-born slave?Then why is he given over to plunder? Lions have roared over him,Have raised their cries.They have made his land a waste,His cities desolate, without inhabitants. Those, too, in Noph and Tahpanhes Will lay bare your head. See, that is the price you have paidFor forsaking the ETERNAL your God Who led you in the way. What, then, is the good of your going to EgyptTo drink the waters of the Nile?And what is the good of your going to AssyriaTo drink the waters of the Euphrates? Let your misfortune reprove you,Let your afflictions rebuke you;Mark well how bad and bitter it isThat you forsake the ETERNAL your God,That awe for Me is not in you—declares my Sovereign GOD of Hosts. For long ago you, Judg. 5.7; in contrast to others “I.” broke your yoke,Tore off your yoke-bands,And said, “I will not work!”; qere “transgress.” On every high hill and under every verdant tree,You recline as a whore. I planted you with noble vines,All with choicest seed;Alas, I find you changedInto a base, an alien vine! Though you wash with natronAnd use much lye,Your guilt is ingrained before Me—declares my Sovereign GOD. How can you say, “I am not defiled,I have not gone after the Baalim”?Look at your deeds in the Valley, Consider what you have done!Like a lustful she-camel,Restlessly running about, Or like a wild ass used to the desert,Snuffing the wind in her eagerness,Whose passion none can restrain,None that seek her need grow weary—In her season, they’ll find her! Save your foot from going bare,And your throat from thirst.But you say, “It is no use.No, I love the strangers, And after them I must go.” Like a thief chagrined when caught,So is the House of Israel chagrined—They, their kings, their officers,And their priests and prophets. They said to wood, “You are my father,”To stone, “You gave birth to me,”While to Me they turned their backsAnd not their faces.But in their hour of calamity they cry,“Arise and save us!” And where are those godsYou made for yourself?Let them arise and save you, if they can,In your hour of calamity.For your gods have become, O Judah,As many as your towns! Why do you call Me to account?You have all rebelled against Me—declares GOD. To no purpose did I smite your children;They would not accept correction.Your sword has devoured your prophetsLike a ravening lion. O generation, behold the word of GOD!Have I been like a desert to Israel,Or like a land of deep gloom?Then why do My people say, “We have broken loose,We will not come to You anymore?” Can a maiden forget her jewels,A bride her adornments?Yet My people have forgotten Me—Days without number. How skillfully you plan your wayTo seek out love!Why, you have even taughtThe worst of women your ways. Moreover, on your garments is foundThe lifeblood of the innocent poor—You did not catch them breaking in. Yet, despite all these things, You say, “I have been acquitted;Surely, God’s anger has turned away from me.”Lo, I will bring you to judgmentFor saying, “I have not sinned.” How you cheapen yourself,By changing your course!You shall be put to shame through Egypt,Just as you were put to shame through Assyria. From this way, too, you will come outWith your hands on your head; For GOD has rejected those you trust,You will not prosper with them.

Jeremiah 2:1–20 recounts God's tender accusation against Israel: He recalls their bridal devotion in the wilderness, then laments how they abandoned the Fountain of living water for broken cisterns. The passage sits at the hinge of Israel's suffering and divine consolation.