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Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Broken Cisterns

Lyrics · Jeremiah

Broken Cisterns

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Jeremiah collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Jeremiah
Collection
Jeremiah
Musical styles
Uncategorized
[Lament I] You followed through desert when love was young, Then forgot the song from which your freedom sprung. No nation trades gods that were never alive, Yet glory was bartered for what cannot save. [Refrain] The fountain still runs, but the people dig stone, Broken cisterns promise and leave the mouth dry. [Lament II] Soap on the hands cannot whiten the stain, A vine once made noble grows wild in the rain. Wood became father and stone heard the plea, But trouble remembered the One they would not see. [Hope Turn] You say you return while your feet keep the road, Innocent blood darkens the hem of the robe. Come back without bargaining, naming the thirst; The fountain was faithful when you wandered first. [Final Chorus] The fountain still runs, but the people dig stone, Broken cisterns promise and leave the mouth dry. Come back without bargaining, naming the thirst; The fountain was faithful when you wandered first.

About the passage

Jeremiah 2: A fountain traded for cracked stone

Jeremiah 2 is a chapter of exchanges that leave Judah poorer every time. The Book of Jeremiah remembers early devotion in the wilderness, then asks what fault in God could explain the people’s departure. None is supplied. Living water is traded for broken cisterns, divine guidance for Egyptian and Assyrian dependence, a noble vine for degeneration, and liberation for restless pursuit. The people deny pollution while their conduct remains visible, call wood and stone their parents, and turn toward God only when the gods they made cannot save them. The chapter’s final turn exposes innocent blood beneath the search for new attachments. Even then Judah says, “I am innocent,” and prepares another political change of direction. The destinations vary, but the deeper pattern does not: substitutes multiply while security, truth, and life keep leaking away.

Study Jeremiah 2 in depth

Jeremiah 3: Return is more than saying the word

Marriage, family, inheritance, and national reunion overlap throughout Jeremiah 3. Judah’s familiar address to God is exposed as empty when conduct remains unchanged, while Israel’s fate becomes a warning Judah sees and nevertheless repeats. The Book of Jeremiah distinguishes outward return from return “with the whole heart,” then sends an unmistakable invitation toward the north. Mercy is offered with acknowledgment of iniquity, and restoration grows larger than a simple return to former arrangements. Shepherds with knowledge and understanding are promised, the ark no longer occupies the center of memory, Jerusalem is called the throne of the LORD, and Israel and Judah are pictured together again with the nations gathering. The chapter closes by giving voice to the confession the summons requires. Hills are admitted to be false hopes, shame is named, and generations are included in the admission of disobedience.

Study Jeremiah 3 in depth