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Pentecost Season · Proper 17 · Year C

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Cracked Cisterns That Hold No Water

The Fountain of Life, Master of the Fountain of Life
The Fountain of Life, Master of the Fountain of Life, c. 1511National Gallery Prague
Below the cross, a Gothic fountain pours out the water of life, and crowds of the faithful, monks, nuns and laypeople, gather to drink from it.For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.Master of the Fountain of LifeAn unnamed painter of about 1511, named after this panel of the Fountain of Life.National Gallery PragueThe National Gallery Prague, the Czech national collection of art.National Gallery Prague

Overview & Insights

"They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)

God brings a covenant lawsuit against Israel, asking what wrong their ancestors found in him that they wandered after worthless things. The image of abandoning a spring of living water for broken cisterns captures the folly of their unfaithfulness.

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