The Broken Covenant

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ³ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant ⁴ which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and ^[a]do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ ⁵ in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “Amen, O Lord.”

⁶ And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷ For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, ^[b]warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.” ⁸ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have turned back to the iniquities of their ^[c]ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” ¹¹ Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. ¹² Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. ¹³ For your gods are ^[d]as many as your cities, O Judah; and ^[e]as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

¹⁴ “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

¹⁷ The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have ^[g]done to provoke Me by ^[h]offering up sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

²¹ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not die at our hand”; ²² therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; ²³ and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth—the year of their punishment.”