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Listen, people of Israel,[a]
    and I, the Lord, will speak.
I was never unfair
    to your ancestors,
but they left me
and became worthless
    by following worthless idols.
Your ancestors refused
    to ask for my help,
though I had rescued them
    from Egypt
and led them through
a treacherous, barren desert,
    where no one lives
    or dares to travel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2.4 Israel: After the nation was divided, the northern kingdom was called “Israel,” and the southern kingdom was called “Judah” (see 1 Kings 12.1-20). In 722 b.c. the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom, and Judah was all that was left. And so in the book of Jeremiah the name “Israel” is most often used of the southern kingdom.

Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob,
    all you clans of Israel.

This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
    that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols(A)
    and became worthless(B) themselves.
They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord,
    who brought us up out of Egypt(C)
and led us through the barren wilderness,
    through a land of deserts(D) and ravines,(E)
a land of drought and utter darkness,
    a land where no one travels(F) and no one lives?’

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