Jeremiah / Question
God says his people committed two evils: they forsook him, "the fountain of living waters," and they dug "broken cisterns" that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). The verse contrasts a reliable source with an empty substitute.
In Jeremiah 2:9–13 Yahweh announces he will keep pressing his case against his people, even across generations. He tells them to look far west and far east for comparison and see if any people has ever swapped out its gods. Yet Israel has exchanged its “glory” for what brings no benefit. These verses sit inside Jeremiah’s early accusation speech that recalls Israel’s earlier devotion (2:2–3) and then pivots to the puzzle of their abandonment (2:4–8).
These verses present Yahweh as bringing an ongoing dispute against his own people (verse 9). The tone is not casual complaint; it is a sustained confrontation that reaches across generations (“your children’s children,” verse 9). The passage frames Israel’s unfaithfulness as unusually irrational.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Jeremiah 2:13, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
13For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.