JeremiahChapter 11

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¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ²"Listen to the words of this covenant. Tell them to the men of Judah and to the people who live in Jerusalem. ³Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant. ⁴I commanded these words to your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I said, 'Obey me, and do everything I command you. Then you will be my people, and I will be your God.' ⁵I did this to keep the promise I swore to your ancestors. I promised to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you have today." "Amen, LORD," I answered. ⁶Then the LORD said to me, "Announce all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Say, 'Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷From the time I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I have warned them strongly. Again and again I said, "Obey my voice." ⁸But they would not obey or pay attention. Each one followed his own stubborn, evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant. I had commanded them to keep it, but they did not keep it.'" ⁹Then the LORD said to me, "There is a secret plot among the men of Judah and the people who live in Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have gone back to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to obey my words. They have followed other gods and served them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers. ¹¹So this is what the LORD says: 'I am about to bring a disaster on them that they cannot escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they burn incense to. But those gods will surely not save them when disaster comes. ¹³Judah, you have as many gods as you have cities. You have set up altars to that shameful god. You have as many altars to burn incense to Baal as Jerusalem has streets.' ¹⁴As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry out or pray for them. For I will not listen when they call to me in their time of disaster. ¹⁵What right does my loved one have to be in my house?
She has done so many evil things.
Can meat from holy sacrifices keep away your ruin?
When you do evil, you are happy. ¹⁶The LORD once called you a green, healthy olive tree,
beautiful with good fruit.
But with the sound of a mighty roar,
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be burned up. ¹⁷The LORD of Hosts planted you. But he has announced disaster against you. It is because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done. They brought it on themselves. They made me angry by burning incense to Baal." ¹⁸The LORD told me about it, so I knew. Then you showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹I was like a gentle lamb led to be killed. I did not know they had made plans against me. They said, "Let's destroy the tree and its fruit. Let's cut him off from the land of the living, so that no one will remember his name anymore." ²⁰LORD of Hosts, you judge fairly.
You look closely at the heart and mind.
Let me see you pay them back,
for I have put my case in your hands. ²¹So this is what the LORD says about the people of Anathoth. They are trying to kill you, Jeremiah. They say, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or we will kill you." ²²So this is what the LORD of Hosts says: "I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword. Their sons and daughters will die from famine. ²³Not one of them will be left. For I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year I punish them."