JEREMIAH 11 [†]The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2[†] a “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3[†]You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:  b Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4[†]that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,  c from the iron furnace, saying,  d Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you.  d So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5[†] e that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers,  f to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”

6[†]And the LORD said to me,  g “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem:  h Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7[†]For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt,  i warning them persistently, even to this day, saying,  d Obey my voice. 8[^][†] j Yet they did not obey or incline their ear,  k but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all  h the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

9[†]Again the LORD said to me,  l “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10[†]They have turned back to  m the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words.  m They have gone after other gods to serve them.  n The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11[†]Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape.  o Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem  p will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings,  p but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13[†] p For 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,  q altars to make offerings to Baal.

14[†]“Therefore  r do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf,  o for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15[†] s What right has my beloved in my house,  t when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom?  u Can you then exult? 16[†]The LORD once called you  v ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But  w with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and  x its branches will be consumed. 17[†]The LORD of hosts,  y who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done,  z provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

18[†] The LORD made it known to me and I knew;

then you showed me their deeds.

19[^] But I was  a like a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

I did not know  b it was against me

they devised schemes, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

 c let us cut him off from  d the land of the living,

that his name be remembered no more.”

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

who  e tests  f the heart and the mind,

 g let me see your vengeance upon them,

for to you have I committed my cause.

21[†]Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of  h Anathoth,  i who seek your life, and say,  j “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— 22[†]therefore 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  k Anathoth,  l the year of their punishment.”