The Broken Covenant

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²a“Hear 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: bCursed 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, cfrom the iron furnace, saying, dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ⁵ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, fto 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, g“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: hHear 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, iwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, dObey my voice. ⁸jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹Again the Lord said to me, l“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. nThe 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. oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³pFor 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, qaltars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ¹⁵sWhat right has my beloved in my house, twhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? uCan you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord once called you v‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But wwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and xits branches will be consumed. ¹⁷The Lord of hosts, ywho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, zprovoking 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 alike a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

I did not know bit was against me

they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

clet us cut him off from dthe land of the living,

that his name be remembered no more.”

²⁰But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,

who etests fthe heart and the mind,

glet me see your vengeance upon them,

for to you have I committed my cause.

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of hAnathoth, iwho seek your life, and say, j“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 kAnathoth, lthe year of their punishment.”