Jeremiah 11-12

Common English Bible

Judah’s broken covenant with God

11 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: ²Listen to the terms of this covenant and proclaim them to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. ³Say to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed are those who don’t heed the terms of this covenant ⁴that I commanded your ancestors when I bought them out of the land of Egypt, that iron crucible, saying, Obey me and observe all that I instruct you. Then you will be my people and I, even I, will be your God. ⁵I will fulfill my solemn pledge that I made to your ancestors to give them a land full of milk and honey, as is the case today.

And I replied, “As you say, Lord!”

⁶The Lord said to me: Announce all these words in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the terms of this covenant and perform them. ⁷I repeatedly and tirelessly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt to this very day, saying, Obey me. ⁸But they didn’t listen or pay attention; they followed their own willful ambitions. So I brought upon them all the punishments I prescribed for violating this covenant—for refusing to obey.

⁹The Lord said to me: A conspiracy is taking place among the people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey my words. They too are following other gods and serving them. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their ancestors.

¹¹Therefore, the Lord proclaims: I will bring upon them a disaster from which they won’t be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I won’t listen to them. ¹²Then the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will call upon the gods they worship,^[a] but they won’t save them when disaster strikes. ¹³You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah, and you have as many shameful altars for worshipping Baal as you have streets in Jerusalem.

¹⁴As for you, don’t pray for these people, don’t cry out or plead for them, for I won’t listen when they cry out to me on account of their distress.

¹⁵What are my loved ones doing in my temple
    while working out their many evil schemes?
Can sacred offerings cancel your sin
    so that you revel in your evil deeds?^[b]
¹⁶The Lord named you,
    “A blossoming olive tree, fair and fruitful”;
        but with the blast of a powerful storm
        he will set it ablaze,
        until its branches are completely consumed.^[c]

¹⁷The Lord of heavenly forces who planted you has announced disaster for you, because the people of Israel and Judah have done evil and made me angry by worshipping Baal.

Jeremiah’s lament

¹⁸The Lord informed me and I knew.
    Then he helped me see what they were up to.
¹⁹I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter;
    I didn’t realize that they were planning
        their schemes against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
    let’s cut him off from the land of the living
    so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out.”
²⁰Lord of heavenly forces, righteous judge,
    who tests the heart and mind,
        let me see your revenge upon them,
        because I have committed my case to you.

²¹This is what the Lord says concerning the men from Anathoth who seek your life and say, “Don’t prophesy in the Lord’s name or else you will die at our hands.” ²²Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims, I’m going to punish them. Their young men will die in war, and their sons and daughters will die by famine. ²³No one will be left because I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth when their time comes.

12 If I took you to court, Lord,
    you would win.
But I still have questions about your justice.
    Why do guilty persons enjoy success?
    Why are evildoers so happy?
²You plant them, and they take root;
    they flourish and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.
³Yet you, Lord, you know me.
    You see me.
You can tell that I love you.^[d]
    So drag them away
    and butcher them like sheep.
    Prepare them for the slaughterhouse.
⁴How long will the land mourn
    and the grass in the fields dry up?
The animals and birds are swept away
    due to the evil of those in the land.
The people say,
    “God doesn’t see what we’re up to!”

⁵If you have raced with people and are worn out,
    how will you compete with horses?
If you fall down in an open field,^[e]
    how will you survive in the forest along the Jordan?
⁶Even your relatives, your very family,
    are planning to trap you.
        They are out to get you.
    So don’t trust them,
        even if they appear to be on your side.

God’s lament over Judah’s destruction

⁷I have abandoned my house;
    I have deserted my inheritance.
    I have given the one I love
        into the power of her enemies.
⁸My inheritance has turned against me
    like a lion in the forest;
        she growls at me;
            therefore, I have rejected her.
⁹My inheritance has become
    like a bird of prey,
        surrounded and attacked.^[f]
Go, gather all the wild animals for the feast.
¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    they have trampled down my field;
    they have reduced my treasured field
        to a desolate wilderness.
¹¹They have devastated her;
    desolate, she cries out to me in distress:
        “The whole land is desolate,
        and no one seems to care.”
¹²Over all the desert roads
    destroyers march;
        for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
        no one is safe.
¹³They have sown wheat and reaped weeds;
    they have worn themselves out for nothing.
They will be ashamed of their^[g] harvest
    on account of the Lord’s fierce anger.

¹⁴The Lord proclaims: The evil nations have seized the land^[h] that I gave my people Israel. I’m going to dig them up from their own lands, and I will dig up the people of Judah from among them. ¹⁵And after I have dug them up, I will again have compassion on them and restore their inheritance and their land. ¹⁶And then, if they will learn the ways of my people, to make a solemn pledge in my name, “As the Lord lives,” just as they once taught my people to swear to Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷But if they don’t listen, I will dig up that nation; yes, I will dig up and destroy, declares the Lord.