Jeremiah 11 :: New International Version (NIV)

The Covenant Is Broken

Jer 11:1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

Jer 11:2“Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem.

Jer 11:3Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant—

Jer 11:4

Jer 11:4the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Jer 11:5

Jer 11:5Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” I answered, “Amen, LORD.”

Jer 11:6

Jer 11:6The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them.

Jer 11:7

Jer 11:7From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.”

Jer 11:8

Jer 11:8But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’ ”

Jer 11:9

Jer 11:9Then the LORD said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem.

Jer 11:10

Jer 11:10They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.

Jer 11:11

Jer 11:11Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.

Jer 11:12

Jer 11:12The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes.

Jer 11:13

Jer 11:13You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

Jer 11:14

Jer 11:14“Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.

Jer 11:15

Jer 11:15“What is my beloved doing in my temple as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your punishment? When you engage in your wickedness, then you rejoice.[fn]”

Jer 11:16

Jer 11:16The LORD called you a thriving olive tree with fruit beautiful in form. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it on fire, and its branches will be broken.

Jer 11:17

Jer 11:17The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.

Plot Against Jeremiah

Jer 11:18

Jer 11:18Because the LORD revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing.

Jer 11:19

Jer 11:19I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; I did not realize that they had plotted against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree and its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.”

Jer 11:20

Jer 11:20But you, LORD Almighty, who judge righteously and test the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.

Jer 11:21

Jer 11:21Therefore this is what the LORD says about the people of Anathoth who are threatening to kill you, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD or you will die by our hands”—

Jer 11:22

Jer 11:22therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.

Jer 11:23

Jer 11:23Not even a remnant will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

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NIV Footnotes

(11:15)

Or Could consecrated meat avert your punishment? / Then you would rejoice

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