JEREMIAH 11-12

¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

² “Speak them to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem

³ and say to them, ‘This is what Jehovah the God of Israel says: “Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

⁴ which I commanded your forefathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and do all the things that I command you; and you will become my people and I will be your God,

⁵ And I answered: “Amen, O Jehovah.”

⁶ Jehovah then 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 carry them out.

⁷ For I solemnly admonished your forefathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt and to this day, admonishing them again and again: “Obey my voice.”

⁸ But they did not listen or incline their ear; instead, each kept stubbornly following his own wicked heart. So I brought on them all the words of this covenant that I commanded them to do and that they refused to carry out.’”

⁹ Jehovah then said to me: “There is a conspiracy among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

¹⁰ They have returned to the errors of their forefathers of old, who refused to obey my words. They too have followed other gods and have served them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their forefathers.

¹¹ Therefore this is what Jehovah says, ‘Here I am bringing on them a calamity that they will not be able to escape. When they call to me for help, I will not listen to them.

¹² Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go to the gods to which they are making sacrifices and call for help, but these will by no means save them in the time of their calamity.

¹³ For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and you have set up as many altars to the shameful thing as there are streets in Jerusalem, altars to make sacrifices to Baʹal.’

¹⁴ “As for you, do not pray in behalf of this people. Do not cry out in their behalf or offer a prayer for them, for I will not be listening when they call out to me because of their calamity.

¹⁵ Will you exult at that time?

¹⁶ And they have broken its branches.

¹⁷ “Jehovah of armies, your Planter, has declared that a calamity will come upon you because of the evil committed by the house of Israel and the house of Judah, who have offended me by making sacrifices to Baʹal.”

¹⁸ At that time you caused me to see what they were doing.

¹⁹ So that his name may be remembered no more.”

²⁰ For to you I have committed my legal case.

²¹ Therefore this is what Jehovah says against the men of Anʹa·thoth who are seeking to take your life and who say: “You must not prophesy in the name of Jehovah, or you will die by our hand”;

²² therefore this is what Jehovah of armies says: “Here I am going to call them to account. The young men will die by the sword, and their sons and their daughters will die by famine.

²³ Not even a remnant will be left of them, because I will bring calamity on the men of Anʹa·thoth in the year of their being called to account.”

¹ And why are the treacherous unworried?

² You are on their lips, but far away from their innermost thoughts.

³ And set them apart for the day of killing.

⁴ For they have said: “He does not see what will happen to us.”

⁵ How will you fare among the dense thickets along the Jordan?

⁶ Even if they speak good things to you.

⁷ I have given my dearly beloved one into the hand of her enemies.

⁸ So I have come to hate her.

⁹ Come to eat.

¹⁰ They have turned my desirable portion of land into a desolate wilderness.

¹¹ But no man takes it to heart.

¹² There is no peace for anyone.

¹³ Because of the burning anger of Jehovah.”

¹⁴ This is what Jehovah says against all my wicked neighbors, who are touching the inheritance that I caused my people Israel to possess: “Here I am uprooting them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

¹⁵ But after I uproot them, I will again have mercy on them and bring each of them back to his inheritance and to his land.”

¹⁶ “And if they make sure to learn the ways of my people and to swear by my name, ‘As surely as Jehovah is alive!’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baʹal, they will then be built up among my people.

¹⁷ But if they refuse to obey, I will also uproot that nation, uprooting and destroying it,” declares Jehovah.