Jeremiah 11
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3 And say to them: ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: «Cursed is the person who does not hear the words of this covenant.
4 This is the covenant I commanded your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace: Listen to my voice and do everything I command you; then you will be my people, and I will be your God.
5 In this way I will uphold the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.»’” And I answered, “Amen, LORD.”
6 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 keep them.’
7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors on the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, and have continued warning them from early on until this day: ‘Listen to my voice.’
8 But they did not listen or pay attention. Each followed the stubbornness of their evil heart. So I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I had commanded them to keep, but they did not keep them.”
9 The LORD said to me: “A conspiracy has been found among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They have returned to the sins of their earliest ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They went after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their ancestors.”
11 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I am bringing on them a disaster they will not be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not listen to them.
12 The cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but those gods will certainly not save them in their time of disaster.”
13 For your gods are as numerous as your cities, Judah. And as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to Shame, altars for burning incense to Baal.
14 And you, do not pray for this people. Do not raise a cry or prayer for them, for I will not listen when they cry out to me because of their disaster.
15 What is my beloved doing in my house, after carrying out her schemes with many? Will consecrated flesh pass from you? For you take delight in your wickedness.
16 The LORD called you a thriving olive tree, beautiful with its fruit and form. At the sound of a great tumult, he set fire to it, and its branches were broken.
17 The LORD of Armies, who planted you, has spoken disaster against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. They brought it on themselves to provoke me by burning incense to Baal.”
18 The LORD made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me what they were doing.
19 I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter, unaware that they were plotting against me: “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit; let’s cut him off from the land of the living, so his name will be remembered no more.”
20 But the LORD of Armies judges justly and tests the kidneys and the heart. Let me see your vengeance on them, for I have laid my case before you.
21 Therefore, this is what the LORD says about 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, this is what the LORD of Armies says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters will die of famine.
23 They will have no survivors, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”
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