Jeremiah 11
11
The Agreement Is Broken
1This is the message from the Lord: 2“Jeremiah, listen to the words of this agreement and tell them to the people living in Jerusalem and the rest of Judah. 3Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Bad things will happen to anyone who does not obey this agreement. 4I am talking about the agreement I made with your ancestors when I brought them out of that furnace#11:4 furnace Literally, “iron furnace.” That is, an oven hot enough to soften iron so that it can be hammered into something useful. called Egypt.’ At that time I told them, ‘Listen to me and obey all the commands I give you. Then you will be my people and I will be your God.’
5“I did this to keep the promise that I had made to your ancestors. I promised to give them a very fertile land—a land flowing with milk and honey. And you are living in that country today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
6The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, tell this message in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the words of this agreement, and then obey these laws. 7I gave a warning to your ancestors at the time I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I have warned them again and again to this day. I told them to obey me. 8But your ancestors did not listen to me. They were stubborn and did what their own evil hearts wanted. The agreement says that bad things will happen to them if they don’t obey. So I made all the bad things happen to them. I commanded them to obey the agreement, but they did not.’”
9The Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, I know that the people of Judah and the people living in Jerusalem have made secret plans. 10They are committing the same sins that their ancestors did. Their ancestors refused to listen to my message. They followed and worshiped other gods. The family of Israel and the family of Judah have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors.”
11So this is what the Lord says: “I will soon make something terrible happen to the people of Judah. They will not be able to escape. They will be sorry and cry to me for help, but I will not listen to them. 12The people in the towns of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem will go and pray to their idols for help. They burn incense to those idols. But their idols will not be able to help the people of Judah when that terrible disaster comes.
13“People of Judah, you have many idols—there are as many idols as there are towns in Judah. You have built many altars for worshiping that disgusting god Baal—there are as many altars as there are streets in Jerusalem.
14“As for you, Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people of Judah. Don’t beg for them. Don’t say prayers for them. I will not listen. They will suffer and then call to me for help, but I will not listen.
15“Judah is the one I love, but why is she in my temple?
She has done too many evil things.
Judah, do you think vows and sacrifices will keep you from being destroyed?
Will I then allow you to enjoy your evil ways?”
16The Lord gave you a name.
He called you, “A green olive tree, beautiful to look at.”
But with a powerful storm, he will set that tree on fire,
and its branches will be burned up.#11:15-16 The meaning of these verses is uncertain.
17The Lord All-Powerful planted you, and he said that disaster will come to you. That is because the family of Israel and the family of Judah have done evil things. They offered sacrifices to Baal, and that made him angry!
Evil Plans Against Jeremiah
18The Lord showed me that the men of Anathoth#11:18 men of Anathoth Anathoth was Jeremiah’s hometown. The people who were plotting against him there included his own relatives. See Jer. 12:6. were making plans against me. He showed me what they were doing, so I knew they were against me. 19Before he showed me this, I was like a gentle lamb waiting to be butchered. I did not understand that they were against me. They were saying this about me: “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit! Let us kill him! Then people will forget him.” 20So I prayed, “Lord All-Powerful, you are a fair judge. You know how to test people’s hearts and minds. I will tell you my arguments, and I will let you give them the punishment they deserve.”
21The Lord said to me, “Those people from Anathoth are planning to take your life. They are telling you not to prophesy in the name of the Lord or they will kill you. This is what I have to say about them: 22I, the Lord All-Powerful, promise that I will soon punish those people. Their young men will die in war. Their sons and daughters will die from hunger. 23No one from the city of Anathoth will be left. No one will survive. I will punish them and cause something bad to happen to them.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremiah 11
11
1 The word that came from the Lord to Jeremiah, saying:
2 "Listen to the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who will not listen to the words of this covenant,
4 which I commanded to your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, away from the iron furnace, saying: Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you, and then you will be my people and I will be your God.
5 So shall I uphold the oath which I swore to your fathers, that I would give them a land flowing with milk and honey, just as it is this day." And I answered by saying: "Amen, O Lord."
6 And the Lord said to me: "Shout all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Listen to the words of the covenant, and do them.
7 For when testing, I tested your fathers in the day when I led them away from the land of Egypt, even until this day. Rising early, I tested them, and I said: Listen to my voice.
8 But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear. Instead, each one of them walked in the depravity of his own evil heart. And so, I brought over them all the words of this covenant, which I instructed them to do. But they would not do them."
9 And the Lord said to me: "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They have returned to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to listen to my words. And likewise, they have gone after strange gods, so that they may serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have treated as void my covenant, which I made with their fathers.
11 For this reason, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lead evils over them, from which they will not be able to escape. And they will cry out to me, and I will not heed them.
12 And the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go forth, and they will cry out to the gods, to whom they offer libations, and they will not save them in the time of their affliction.
13 For according to the number of your cities, so were your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem, so did you establish altars of confusion, altars to offer libations to Baal.
14 Therefore, you should not choose to pray for this people, and you should not take up praise and petitioning on their behalf. For I will not heed them in the time of their outcry to me, in the time of their affliction.
15 Why has my beloved wrought great wickedness in my house? How can the holy flesh take away from you your wickedness, in which you have gloried?
16 The Lord has called your name: a beautiful, fruitful, splendid, and productive olive tree. At the voice of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and its greenery was burned up.
17 And the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced an evil against you, concerning the evils of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have done to themselves so as to provoke me, by offering libations to Baal."
18 But you, O Lord, have revealed this to me, and I have understood. Then you displayed their efforts to me.
19 And I was like a meek lamb, who is being carried to be a victim. And I did not realize that they had devised plans against me, saying: "Let us place wood upon his bread, and let us eradicate him from the land of the living, and let his name no longer be remembered."
20 But you, O Lord of hosts, who judges justly, and who tests the temperament and the heart, let me see your vengeance against them. For I have revealed my case to you.
21 "Because of this, thus says the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who are seeking your life, and who are saying: 'You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and you shall not die by our hands.'
22 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will visit upon them. Their young men will die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters will die by famine.
23 And there will be nothing left of them. For I will lead an evil over the men of Anathoth: the year of their visitation."
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