Jeremiah 2 · The Lantern

And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

and seide, Go thou, and crye in the eeris of Jerusalem, and seie, The Lord seith these thingis, Y hadde mynde on thee, and Y hadde merci on thee in thi yong wexynge age, and on the charite of thi spousyng, whanne thou suedist me in desert, in the lond which is not sowun.

Israel was hooli to the Lord, the firste of fruytis of hym; alle men that deuouren that Israel, trespassen; yuelis schulen come on hem, seith the Lord.

The hous of Jacob, and alle the lynagis of the hous of Israel, here ye the word of the Lord.

The Lord seith these thingis, What of wickidnesse foundun youre fadris in me, for thei yeden fer awey fro me, and yeden after vanyte, and weren maad veyn?

And thei seiden not, Where is the Lord, that made vs to stie fro the lond of Egipt, that ledde vs ouer thorou desert, bi the lond vnabitable and with out weie, bi the lond of thirst, and bi the ymage of deeth, bi the lond in whiche a man yede not, nether a man dwellide.

And Y brouyte you in to the lond of Carmele, that ye schulden ete the fruyt therof, and the goodis therof; and ye entriden, and defouliden my lond, and settiden myn eritage in to abhomynacioun.

Preestis seiden not, Where is the Lord? and thei that helden the lawe, knewen not me; and scheepherdis trespassiden ayens me, and profetis profesieden in Baal, and sueden idols.

God has also entrusted a deposit to us: the brothers' way of life. While laboring on their behalf, we look forward to future rewards, lest this be said of us as well, "Let this people go," and lest, if we forsake the traditions of our ancestors, this be hurled at us: "Those who have my law do not know me; the shepherds have rebelled against me."

Jeremiah was known before he was formed, and sanctified from the womb. … He longs for water over his head and a fountain of tears for his eyes that he may adequately weep for Israel. No less does he lament the depravity of its rulers.

(Verse 8.) The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' and those who held my Law did not know me, and the shepherds transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied in Baal and followed idols.

Therfor yit Y schal stryue with you in doom, seith the Lord, and Y schal dispute with youre sones.

Go ye to the ilis of Cethym, and se ye; and sende ye in to Cedar, and biholde ye greetli; and se ye,

if siche a thing is doon, if a folk chaungide hise goddis; and certeynli thei ben no goddis; but my puple chaungide hise glorie in to an ydol.

Those who are not saved always are taking care of those things that do not profit or benefit them in any way. So what kind of excuse is there for a Christian who withdraws from the assembly of the church? Such a person does not even imitate the Gentiles but by reason of his absence grows indifferent and careless. He stands aloof and does evil.

And what wonder? for He permitted opinions erroneous, and unworthy of Himself, to prevail, as that He was a body formerly, and that He was visible. In opposition to which He says, "God is a Spirit." Again, that He delighted in sacrifices, which is far from His nature. And He utters words at variance with His declarations of Himself, and many such things.

The same erroneous notion by which they used to worship devils formed in the figure of people they use even now in thinking that the incomprehensible and ineffable glory of the true Deity should be worshiped under the limitations of some figure.

Heuenes, be ye astonyed on this thing, and, ye yatis of heuene, be ye desolat greetli, seith the Lord.

Let us further inquire whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the water [of baptism] and the cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it is written, in reference to the Israelites, that they should not receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins, but should procure another for themselves.

Who that witnessed these things, or that has merely heard of them, will not be greatly amazed, and cry aloud unto the Lord, saying, 'Wilt Thou make a full end of Israel?' Who that is acquainted with these proceedings, will not with good reason cry out and say, 'A wonderful and horrible thing is done in the land;' and, 'The heavens are astonished at this, and the earth is even m…

Here too let the prophet Jeremiah say of the race of Israel, "Who will grant for my head to be waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I may weep for this people day and night?" "For what lamentation can suffice for those who fell into the pit of destruction because of their wicked conduct to Christ, and for guilt so great, that not with words only did they grieve him, an…

For whi my puple hath don tweyne yuels; thei han forsake me, the welle of quyke watir, and han diggid to hem cisternes, `that weren distried, that moun not holde watris.

And our hearts are thus circumcised from evil, so that we are happy to die for the name of the good Rock, which causes living water to burst forth for the hearts of those who by Him have loved the Father of all, and which gives those who are willing to drink of the water of life.

Yea, rather with us is the living water, the very water which springeth from Christ; but thou, separated from the everlasting Fountain, whence receivest thou thy birth? Nor hath the Holy Spirit departed from the chief mother; whence then came He to thee?

Now, here he clearly reveals to us the mystery of the holy Trinity: he called the only-begotten Word of God a fountain of life. This is the name, too, remember, God personally gave himself through the prophet Jeremiah: "They have forsaken me, a fountain of living water, taken their leave and dug for themselves cracked cisterns incapable of holding water."

Whether Israel is a boond man, ether is borun boonde?

Whi therfor is he maad in to prey? Liouns roriden on hym, and yauen her vois; thei han set the londe of hym in to wildernesse, the citees of him ben brent, and noon is that dwellith in tho.

Also the sones of Menfis and of Tafnys han defoulid thee, `til to the cop of the heed.

Whether this is not don to thee, for thou forsokist thi Lord God, in that tyme in which he ledde thee bi the weie?

And now what wolt thou to thee in the weie of Egipt, that thou drynke troblid watir? And what is to thee with the weie of Assiriens, that thou drynke water of the flood?

Truly, I fear that our parents according to the flesh will be found to condemn us and to quote the words of Scripture, "How have you become wretched, greatly put to shame? Great is your affliction; a fire is kindled on you; your branches have become useless." For this cause they have become a prey. The lions have roared at it and have given out their voice against it.

If we are not false servants of God, if there is in us a spark of that fire whereby "charity seeks not its own," we certainly should make our good works appear, not only before God but even before people, for fear that, while drinking of quiet waters in our own conscience, we should be constrained by careless feet to drive the sheep of the Lord to drink the troubled waters.

It is fitting first to take in Scripture, then to chew it, and finally to assimilate it. What does it serve a man to drink dirty water? "And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water?" Drink instead healthy water, that is, wisdom.

Thi malice schal repreue thee, and thi turnyng awei schal blame thee; wite thou and se, that it is yuel and bittir that thou hast forsake thi Lord God, and that his drede is not at thee, seith the Lord God of oostis.

The Lord has therefore endured all these things on our behalf, in order that we, having been instructed by means of them all, may be in all respects circumspect for the time to come, and that, having been rationally taught to love God, we may continue in His perfect love: for God has displayed long-suffering in the case of man's apostasy; while man has been instructed by means…

(Verse 19.) Your wickedness will reprove you, and your apostasy will rebuke you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to have forsaken the Lord your God, and that you have no fear of me, says the Lord of hosts.

"Know and see that it is evil and bitter that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and that the fear of me is not in you." If you do not fear God, you have lost grace, you have lost justice, and you have lost true wisdom. "See" therefore "how evil and bitter it is that you have forsaken the Lord your God." Where there is no fear, there is neither wisdom nor justice nor grace.

Fro the world thou hast broke my yok, thou hast broke my bondis, and seidist, Y schal not serue. For thou hoore didist hordom in ech hiy litil hil, and vndur ech tree ful of bowis.

Forsothe Y plauntide thee a chosun vyner, al trewe seed; hou therfor art thou, alien vyner, turned to me in to a schrewid thing?

The God who "brings forth the sun on the evil and the good" is a desert to no one. To no one is he who "rains on the just and unjust" ever a land made dry. How is he a desert, when he brings forth the day and causes the night to rest? How is he a desert, when he causes the land to bear fruit?

Hence God gave the gift of prayer. But this He doth, not as Himself standing in need of entreaty, but that we might not, from being saved without effort, grow indifferent. ...

God through Jeremiah reproaches the evil of the human will in such a way that he teaches that it is foreign to him. He says, "Yet I planted you as a choice vine.… How then did you turn degenerate and become a wild vine?" He says that the vine is foreign to him not because of some defect in the divine creation but by the avoidance of his own will, which is justly blamed because…

Thouy thou waischist thee with fulleris clei, and multypliest to thee the erbe borith, thou art defoulid in thi wickidnesse bifore me, seith the Lord God.

Hou seist thou, Y am not defoulid, Y yede not aftir Baalym? Se thi weies in the greet valei, wite thou what thou hast do; a swifte rennere ordeynynge hise weies.

A wielde asse customable in wildirnesse drow the wynd of his loue in the desire of his soule; no man schal turne awei it. Alle that seken it, schulen not faile; thei schulen fynde it in the flux of vncleene blood therof.

Forbede thi foot fro nakidnesse, and thi throte fro thirst; and thou seidist, Y dispeiride, Y schal not do; for Y louede brennyngli alien goddis, and Y schal go aftir hem.

As a theef is schent, whanne he is takun, so the hous of Israel ben schent; thei, and kyngis of hem, the princes, and prestis, and the prophetis of hem,

that seien to a tree, Thou art my fadir; and to a stoon, Thou hast gendrid me. Thei turneden to me the bak, and not the face; and in the tyme of her turment thei schulen seie, Ryse thou, and delyuere vs.

It is adultery, if you abandon the ecclesiastical and true knowledge and the opinion about God, and consent to false and incompatible opinion, either by deifying any created object or by making an idol of anything that does not exist, so as to overstep, or rather step away from, knowledge.… For this reason, the noble apostle calls one of the kinds of fornication, idolatry.

With unspeakable mercy, God deigned to be called the Father of humankind. He is in heaven, they on earth. He is the eternal Maker. They are made in time. He holds the earth in the hollow of his hand. They are like grasshoppers on the earth.

How is a person wise who looks not for his Maker but says to a stone, "You are my father"? Who says to the devil as the Manichaean does, "You are the author of my being"? How is Arius wise, who prefers an imperfect and inferior creator to one who is a true and perfect one? How can Marcion or Eunomius be wise, who prefer to have an evil rather than a good God?

Where ben thi goddis, whiche thou madist to thee? Rise thei, and delyuere thee in the tyme of thi turment; for aftir the noumbre of thi citees weren thi goddis, thou Juda.

What wolen ye stryue with me in doom? Alle ye han forsake me, seith the Lord.

In veyn Y smoot youre sones, thei resseyueden not chastisyng; youre swerd deuouride youre prophetis, youre generacioun is distried as a lioun.

Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree. This refers to the three captivities in which the Israelites were taken away as captives, so that they might be chastened, but they were not chastened. In vain have I smitten your children, but they have not taken correction.

(Verse 30) Without cause, I struck your sons: they did not receive discipline. For this reason, you did not receive the 70. And the sense in Hebrew is: Those who were struck did not want to receive discipline. But in the Septuagint: Therefore, I struck your sons so that you may be taught by their death.

"Some of those measures do not succeed," you say. Is a remedy, then, to be discontinued because the illness of some patients is incurable? You are looking at those who are so hardened that they are not affected by such correction. Concerning these it has been written: "In vain have I struck your children. They have not received correction."

Se ye the word of the Lord, whether Y am maad a wildirnesse to Israel, ether a lond late bryngynge forth fruyt? Whi therfor seide my puple, We han go awei, we schulen no more come to thee?

Whethir a virgyn schal foryete hir ournement? and a spousesse `schal foryete hir brest girdil? But mi puple hath foryete me bi daies with out noumbre.

What enforsist thou to schewe thi weie good to seke loue, which ferthermore bothe hast tauyt thi malices thi weies,

and the blood of pore men and innocentis is foundun in thi wyngis? Y fond not hem in dichis, but in alle thingis whiche Y remembride bifore.

And thou seidist, Y am with out synne and innocent; and therfor thi stronge veniaunce be turned awei fro me. Lo! Y schal stryue with thee in doom; for thou seidist, Y synnede not.

Hou vijl art thou maad, rehersynge thi weies? and thou schalt be schent of Egipt, as thou were schent of Assur.

For whi and thou schalt go out of this lond, and thin hondis schulen be on thin heed; for whi the Lord hath al to-broke thi trist, and thou schalt haue no thing to prosperite.

Jeremiah2