Jeremiah 11:1–13

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the terms of this covenantx and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursedy is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant—4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,z out of the iron-smelting furnace.a’ I said, ‘Obeyb me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,c and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swored to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’e—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen,f Lord.”

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.’