n also in the plural, and the plural prevails towards the
end. The nation answers as a whole, sometimes as _I_ but sometimes also as
_We_.

Before expounding the truths conveyed by these early Oracles it is well to
translate them in full, for though not originally uttered at the same
time, they run now in a continuous stream of verse--save for one of those
"portages" of prose which I have described.(137) There is no reason for
denying the whole of this passage to Jeremiah, whether because it is in
prose or because it treats of Northern Israel as well as Judah.(138) But
on parts of it the colours are distinctly of a period later than that of
the Prophet. All the rest of the Oracles may be taken to be from himself.
Duhm after much hesitation has come to doubt the genuineness of Ch. II.
5-13, but his suspicions of deuteronomic influence seem groundless, and
even if they were sound they would be insufficient for denying the verses
to Jeremiah.(139)

II. 1, 2, And he said, Thus sayeth the Lord:(140)

I remember the troth of thy youth,
Thy love as a bride,
Thy following Me through the desert,
The land unsown.
Holy to the Lord was Israel, 3
First-fruit of His income;
All that would eat it stood guilty,
Evil came on them.
Rede of the Lord--
Hear the Lord's Word, House of Jacob, 4
All clans of Israel's race!
[Thus sayeth the Lord] 5
What wrong found your fathers in Me,
That so far they broke from Me,
And following after the Bubble(141)
Bubbles became.
Nor said they: 6
Where is the Lord who carried us up
From the land of Misraim?(142)
Who led us through the desert,
Land of waste and chasms,
Land of drought and barren,(143)
A land which nobody crosses,
Nor mankind settles upon it.
And I brought you into a garden, 7
To feed on its fruit and its wealth.
But coming ye fouled My land,
My heritage turned to loathing.
The priests never said, 8
Where is the Lord?
They who handle the Law knew Me not,
The rulers(144) rebelled against Me;
By Baal the prophets did prophesy,
And followed the worthless.
So still with you must I strive,(145) 9
And strive with your sons.(146)
For cross to the isles of Kittim and look 10
Send to Kedar, and think for yourselves,(147)
And see, was ever like this?
Have any nations(148) changed t