Jeremia 11 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Jeremia 11 | New International Reader’s Version

The Lord’s people have broken his covenant

1 A message from the LORD came to Jeremiah. The LORD said, 2 ‘Listen to the terms of the covenant I made with my people of long ago. Tell Judah the terms still apply to them. Tell those who live in Jerusalem that they must obey them too. 3 I am the LORD, the God of Israel. So let the people know what I want them to do. Here is what I want you to tell them. “May the person who does not obey the terms of the covenant be under my curse. 4 I gave those terms to your people of long ago. That was when I brought them out of Egypt. I saved them out of that furnace that melts down iron and makes it pure.” I said, “Obey me. Do everything I command you to do. Then you will be my people. And I will be your God. 5 I raised my hand and made a promise to your people of long ago. I promised them I would give them a land that had plenty of milk and honey.” It is the land you own today. I kept my promise.’ I replied, ‘Amen, LORD.’ 6 The LORD said to me, ‘Here is what I want you to announce in the towns of Judah. Say it also in the streets of Jerusalem. Tell the people, “Listen to the terms of my covenant. Obey them. 7 Long ago I brought your people up from Egypt. From that time until today, I warned them again and again. I said, ‘Obey me.’ 8 But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. So I brought down on them all the curses of the covenant. I commanded them to obey it. But they refused.” ’ 9 The LORD continued, ‘The people of Judah have made some evil plans. So have those who live in Jerusalem. 10 All of them have returned to the sins their people of long ago committed. Those people refused to listen to what I told them. And now the people of Israel and Judah alike have worshipped other gods and served them. They have broken the covenant I made with their people who lived before them. 11 So I say, “I will bring trouble on them. They will not be able to escape it. They will cry out to me. But I will not listen to them. 12 The people of Jerusalem and of the towns of Judah will cry out. They will cry out to the gods they burn incense to. But those gods will not help them at all when trouble strikes them. 13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns. And in Jerusalem you have set up as many altars as there are streets. You are burning incense to that shameful god named Baal.” 14 ‘Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. They will call out to me when they are in trouble. But I will not listen to them. 15 ‘I love the people of Judah. But they are working out their evil plans along with many others. So what are they doing in my temple? Can meat that is offered to me keep me from punishing you? When you do evil things, you get a lot of pleasure from them.’ 16 People of Judah, the LORD once called you a healthy olive tree. He thought its fruit was beautiful. But now he will come with the roar of a mighty storm. He will set the tree on fire. And its branches will be broken. 17 The LORD who rules over all planted you. But now he has ordered your enemies to destroy you. The people of Israel and Judah have both done what is evil. They have made the LORD very angry by burning incense to Baal.

Jeremiah’s enemies make evil plans against him

18 The LORD told me about the evil plans of my enemies. That’s how I knew about them. He showed me what they were doing. 19 I had been like a gentle lamb led off to be killed. I didn’t realise they had made plans against me. They had said, ‘Let’s destroy the tree and its fruit. Let’s take away his life. Then his name won’t be remembered anymore.’ 20 But LORD, you rule over all. You always judge fairly. You test people’s hearts and minds. So pay them back for what they’ve done. I’ve committed my cause to you. 21 The LORD says, ‘Jeremiah, here is what I am telling you about the people of Anathoth. They say they’re going to kill you. They are saying, “Don’t prophesy in the LORD’s name. If you do, we will kill you with our own hands.” ’ 22 So the LORD who rules over all says, ‘I will punish them. Their young men will be killed by swords. Their sons and daughters will die of hunger. 23 Only a few people will be left alive. I will judge the people of Anathoth. I will destroy them when the time comes to punish them.’

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English Standard Version

The Broken Covenant

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.” 6 And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.” 9 Again the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal. 14 “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.” 18 The Lord made it known to me and I knew; then you showed me their deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.” 20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause. 21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”