The Sin of Israel's Ancestors (JER 2:4-8)

[2:4] Listen to the Lord's message, you descendants of Jacob, you tribes of Israel.

[2:5] The Lord says: “What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.

[2:6] They did not care about me, even though I rescued them from Egypt and led them through the wilderness: a land of deserts and sand pits, a dry and dangerous land where no one lives and no one will even travel.

[2:7] I brought them into a fertile land, to enjoy its harvests and its other good things. But instead they ruined my land; they defiled the country I had given them.

[2:8] The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ My own priests did not know me. The rulers rebelled against me; the prophets spoke in the name of Baal and worshiped useless idols.