Jeremiah 11

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

²Hear the words of this covenant , and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem .

³You 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

⁴that 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 ,

⁵that 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.

⁶And 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.

⁷For 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 .

⁸Yet 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 .

⁹Again the Lord said to me, A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem .

¹⁰They 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 .

¹¹Therefore , 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.

¹²Then 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 .

¹³For 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 .

¹⁴Therefore 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 .

¹⁵What 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 ?

¹⁶The 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 .

¹⁷The 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 .

¹⁸The Lord made it known to me and I knew ; then you showed me their deeds .

¹⁹But 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 .

²⁰But, 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 .

²¹Therefore 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 —

²²therefore 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 ,

²³and none of them shall be left . For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth , the year of their punishment .