Jeremiah 11:17-19

The Voice

¹⁷Now the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has decreed disaster against you, the same tree He planted—all because of the evil done by the people of Israel and Judah, all because they provoked Me by worshiping and sacrificing to Baal.

At this point in the prophecy, Jeremiah reveals a bit of his private struggles. Because he has faithfully delivered God’s messages to the nation, people from his hometown are scheming against him. They would like nothing better than to silence God’s mouthpiece . . . permanently. God, however, lets Jeremiah in on the plot. Wisely, Jeremiah puts his trust in God to protect and defend him.

¹⁸Jeremiah: The Eternal revealed to me the plans of my enemies.
        Then You showed me what they wanted to do.
¹⁹    I was like an unsuspecting lamb led to its slaughter.
        I had no idea they were plotting against me. They were saying,
    “Let’s cut down that lush olive tree and destroy all its beautiful fruit.^[a]
        Let’s cut him off from the land of the living.
    Let’s make sure no one even remembers his name.”