The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “^(A)Hear the words of this ^(B)covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ³ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “^(C)Cursed is the one who does not obey the words of this covenant ⁴ which I commanded your forefathers on the ^(D)day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the ^(E)iron furnace, saying, ‘^(F)Listen to My voice, and ^[a]do according to all that I command you; so you shall be ^(G)My people, and I will be your God,’ ⁵ in order to confirm the ^(H)oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I replied, “^(I)Amen, Lord.”

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

⁹ Then the Lord said to me, “A ^(S)conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have ^(T)turned back to the wrongdoings of their ^[b]ancestors who ^(U)refused to hear My words, and they ^(V)have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have ^(W)broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” ¹¹ Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(X)bringing disaster on them which they will ^(Y)not be able to escape; though they will ^(Z)cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. ¹² Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will ^(AA)go and cry out to the gods to whom they ^[c]burn incense, but they certainly will not save them in the time of their disaster. ¹³ For your gods are ^[d](AB)as many as your cities, Judah; and ^[e]as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the ^(AC)shameful thing, altars for ^[f](AD)burning incense to Baal.

¹⁴ “So as for you, ^(AE)do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will ^(AF)not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

¹⁷ The Lord of armies, who ^(AL)planted you, has ^(AM)pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have ^[i]done to provoke Me by ^[j](AN)offering sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 ^(A)What shall we say then? Are we to ^(B)continue in sin so that grace may increase? ^2 [a](C)Far from it! How shall we who ^(D)died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been ^(E)baptized into ^(F)Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we have been ^(G)buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was ^(H)raised from the dead through the ^(I)glory of the Father, so we too may walk in ^(J)newness of life. ⁵ For ^(K)if we have become ^[b]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be ^[c]in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶ knowing this, that our ^(L)old ^[d]self was ^(M)crucified with Him, in order that our ^(N)body of sin might be ^[e]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷ for ^(O)the one who has died is ^[f]freed from sin.

⁸ Now ^(P)if we have died with Christ, we believe that ^(Q)we shall also live with Him, ⁹ knowing that Christ, having been ^(R)raised from the dead, ^[g]is never to die again; ^(S)death no longer is master over Him. ¹⁰ For ^[h]the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but ^[i]the life that He lives, He lives to ^[j]God. ¹¹ So you too, consider yourselves to be ^(T)dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

³³ They answered Him, “^(A)We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, ^(B)everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ Now ^(C)the slave does not remain in the house forever; ^(D)the son does remain forever. ³⁶ So if the Son ^(E)sets you free, you really will be free. ³⁷ I know that you are ^(F)Abraham’s descendants; yet ^(G)you are seeking to kill Me, because My word ^[a]has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak of the things which I have seen ^[b]with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from ^(H)your father.”

³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is ^(I)our father.” Jesus *said to them, “^(J)If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But as it is, ^(K)you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has ^(L)told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of ^(M)your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; ^(N)we have one Father: God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, ^(O)you would love Me, ^(P)for I came forth from God and am here; for I have ^(Q)not even come ^[c]on My own, but ^[d](R)He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand ^[e](S)what I am saying? It is because you cannot ^(T)listen to My word. ^44 (U)You are of ^(V)your father the devil, and ^(W)you want to do the desires of your father. ^(X)He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because ^(Y)there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells ^[f]a lie, he ^(Z)speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of ^[g]lies. ⁴⁵ But because ^(AA)I say the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If ^(AB)I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ^47 (AC)The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”