Jeremiah 11-12

New International Version

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Listen to the terms of this covenant^(A) and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. ³Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed^(B) is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— ⁴the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,^(C) out of the iron-smelting furnace.^(D)’ I said, ‘Obey^(E) me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,^(F) and I will be your God. ⁵Then I will fulfill the oath I swore^(G) to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’^(H)—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen,^(I) Lord.”

⁶The Lord said to me, “Proclaim^(J) all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow^(K) them. ⁷From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,^(L) saying, “Obey me.” ⁸But they did not listen or pay attention;^(M) instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^(N) So I brought on them all the curses^(O) of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.^(P)’”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy^(Q) among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have returned to the sins of their ancestors,^(R) who refused to listen to my words.^(S) They have followed other gods^(T) to serve them.^(U) Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant^(V) I made with their ancestors. ¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster^(W) they cannot escape.^(X) Although they cry^(Y) out to me, I will not listen^(Z) to them. ¹²The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,^(AA) but they will not help them at all when disaster^(AB) strikes. ¹³You, Judah, have as many gods^(AC) as you have towns;^(AD) and the altars you have set up to burn incense^(AE) to that shameful^(AF) god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

¹⁴“Do not pray^(AG) for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen^(AH) when they call to me in the time of their distress.

¹⁵“What is my beloved doing in my temple
    as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
    Can consecrated meat^(AI) avert your punishment?^(AJ)
When you engage in your wickedness,
    then you rejoice.^[a]”

¹⁶The Lord called you a thriving olive tree^(AK)
    with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
    he will set it on fire,^(AL)
    and its branches will be broken.^(AM)

¹⁷The Lord Almighty, who planted^(AN) you, has decreed disaster^(AO) for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused^(AP) my anger by burning incense to Baal.^(AQ)

Plot Against Jeremiah

¹⁸Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;^(AR) I did not realize that they had plotted^(AS) against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;
    let us cut him off from the land of the living,^(AT)
    that his name be remembered^(AU) no more.”
²⁰But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously^(AV)
    and test the heart^(AW) and mind,^(AX)
let me see your vengeance^(AY) on them,
    for to you I have committed my cause.

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth^(AZ) who are threatening to kill you,^(BA) saying, “Do not prophesy^(BB) in the name of the Lord or you will die^(BC) by our hands”— ²²therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men^(BD) will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. ²³Not even a remnant^(BE) will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.^(BF)”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You are always righteous,^(BG) Lord,
    when I bring a case^(BH) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:^(BI)
    Why does the way of the wicked prosper?^(BJ)
    Why do all the faithless live at ease?
²You have planted^(BK) them, and they have taken root;
    they grow and bear fruit.^(BL)
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.^(BM)
³Yet you know me, Lord;
    you see me and test^(BN) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep^(BO) to be butchered!
    Set them apart for the day of slaughter!^(BP)
⁴How long will the land lie parched^(BQ)
    and the grass in every field be withered?^(BR)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
    the animals and birds have perished.^(BS)
Moreover, the people are saying,
    “He will not see what happens to us.”

God’s Answer

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot
    and they have worn you out,
    how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble^[b] in safe country,
    how will you manage in the thickets^(BT) by^[c] the Jordan?
⁶Your relatives, members of your own family—
    even they have betrayed you;
    they have raised a loud cry against you.^(BU)
Do not trust them,
    though they speak well of you.^(BV)

⁷“I will forsake^(BW) my house,
    abandon^(BX) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love^(BY)
    into the hands of her enemies.^(BZ)
⁸My inheritance has become to me
    like a lion^(CA) in the forest.
She roars at me;
    therefore I hate her.^(CB)
⁹Has not my inheritance become to me
    like a speckled bird of prey
    that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.^(CC)
¹⁰Many shepherds^(CD) will ruin my vineyard
    and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
    into a desolate wasteland.^(CE)
¹¹It will be made a wasteland,^(CF)
    parched and desolate before me;^(CG)
the whole land will be laid waste
    because there is no one who cares.
¹²Over all the barren heights in the desert
    destroyers will swarm,
for the sword^(CH) of the Lord^(CI) will devour^(CJ)
    from one end of the land to the other;^(CK)
    no one will be safe.^(CL)
¹³They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
    they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.^(CM)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
    because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”^(CN)

¹⁴This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance^(CO) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot^(CP) them from their lands and I will uproot^(CQ) the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion^(CR) and will bring^(CS) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. ¹⁶And if they learn^(CT) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’^(CU)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal^(CV)—then they will be established among my people.^(CW) ¹⁷But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy^(CX) it,” declares the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 11:15 Or Could consecrated meat avert your punishment? / Then you would rejoice
Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of