Jeremiah 11

Chapter 11

The Broken Covenant

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

²“^aHear the words of this ^bcovenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

³and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “^aCursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant

⁴which I commanded your forefathers in the ^aday that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the ^biron furnace, saying, ‘^cListen to My voice, and ¹do according to all which I command you; so you shall be ^dMy people, and I will be your God,’

⁵in order to confirm the ^aoath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” ’ ” Then I said, “^bAmen, O Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, “^aProclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘^bHear the words of this covenant and ^cdo them.

⁷‘For I solemnly ^awarned your fathers in the ^bday that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, ^1cwarning persistently, saying, “^dListen to My voice.”

⁸‘Yet they ^adid not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the ^bwords of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’ ”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “A ^aconspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰“They have ^aturned back to the iniquities of their ¹ancestors who ^brefused to hear My words, and they ^chave gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have ^dbroken My covenant which I made with their fathers.”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am ^abringing disaster on them which they will ^bnot be able to escape; though they will ^ccry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.

¹²“Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will ^ago and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster.

¹³“For your gods are ^1aas many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the ^bshameful thing, altars to ^cburn incense to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore ^ado not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will ^bnot listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

¹⁵“What right has My ^abeloved in My house

When ^bshe has done many vile deeds?

Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,

¹So that you can rejoice?”

¹⁶The Lord called your name,

“A ^agreen olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;

With the ^bnoise of a great tumult

He has ^ckindled fire on it,

And its branches are worthless.

¹⁷The Lord of hosts, who ^aplanted you, has ^bpronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have ¹done to provoke Me by ^2coffering up sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

¹⁸Moreover, the Lord ^amade it known to me and I knew it;

Then You showed me their deeds.

¹⁹But I was like a gentle ^alamb led to the slaughter;

And I did not know that they had ^bdevised plots against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its ¹fruit,

And ^clet us cut him off from the ^dland of the living,

That his ^ename be remembered no more.”

²⁰But, O Lord of hosts, who ^ajudges righteously,

Who ^btries the ¹feelings and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I ²committed my cause.

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^aAnathoth, who ^bseek your life, saying, “^cDo not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not ^ddie at our hand”;

²²therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to ^apunish them! The ^byoung men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine;

²³and a remnant ^awill not be left to them, for I will ^bbring disaster on the men of Anathoth—^cthe year of their punishment.”