Jeremiah 11:6–17
6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaimg all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and followh them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,i saying, “Obey me.” 8 But they did not listen or pay attention;j instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.k So I brought on them all the cursesl of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.m’ ”
9 Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracyn among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors,o who refused to listen to my words.p They have followed other godsq to serve them.r Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenants I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disastert they cannot escape.u Although they cryv out to me, I will not listenw to them. 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,x but they will not help them at all when disastery strikes. 13 You, Judah, have as many godsz as you have towns;a and the altars you have set up to burn incenseb to that shamefulc god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’
14 “Do not prayd for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listene when they call to me in the time of their distress.
15 “What is my beloved doing in my temple
as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
Can consecrated meatf avert your punishment?g
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice.a”
16 The Lord called you a thriving olive treeh
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,i
and its branches will be broken.j
17 The Lord Almighty, who plantedk you, has decreed disasterl for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and arousedm my anger by burning incense to Baal.n