Reminder of the Covenant

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Listen to the words of this covenant(A) and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,(B) which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,(C) out of the iron furnace.’(D) I declared: ‘Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,’(E) in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors,(F) to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.”

I answered, “Amen, Lord.”(G)

The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again,[a](H) ‘Obey My voice.’ Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart.(I) So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”

The Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah(J) and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors(K) who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them.(L) The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.

11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.(M) They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.(N) 13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,(O) and the altars you have set up to Shame[b](P)—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.

14 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,(Q) for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.

15 What right does My beloved have
to be in My house,(R)
having carried out so many evil schemes?
Can holy meat[c](S) prevent your disaster[d]
so you can rejoice?
16 The Lord named you
a flourishing olive tree,(T)
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
He has set fire to it,
and its branches are consumed[e](U)
with a great roaring sound.(V)

17 “The Lord of Hosts who planted you(W) has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”

18 The Lord informed me, so I knew.
Then You helped me to see their deeds,
19 for I was like a docile[f] lamb led to slaughter.(X)
I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;[g]
let’s cut him off from the land of the living(Y)
so that his name will no longer be remembered.”
20 But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously,
who tests(Z) heart[h] and mind,(AA)
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.(AB)

21 Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth(AC) who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.” 22 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.(AD) 23 They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth(AE) in the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

12 You will be righteous, Lord,(AF)
even if I bring a case against You.
Yet, I wish to contend with You:(AG)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(AH)
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
You planted them,(AI) and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,[i]
but far from their conscience.[j](AJ)
As for You, Lord, You know me; You see me.(AK)
You test whether my heart is with You.(AL)
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter(AM)
and set them apart for the day of killing.
How long will the land mourn(AN)
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”[k](AO)

The Lord’s Response

If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[l] in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?(AP)
Even your brothers—your own father’s household—
even they were treacherous to you;(AQ)
even they have cried out loudly after you.(AR)
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.

I have abandoned My house;(AS)
I have deserted My inheritance.
I have given the love of My life
into the hands of her enemies.
My inheritance has acted toward Me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against Me.
Therefore, I hate her.(AT)
Is My inheritance like a hyena[m] to Me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;(AU)
bring them to devour her.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;
they have trampled My plot of land.(AV)
They have turned My desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
11 They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before Me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.(AW)
12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.(AX)
13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.(AY)
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.(AZ)
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.(BA)

14 This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them(BB) from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion(BC) on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16 If they will diligently learn the ways of My people(BD)—to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among My people. 17 However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”(BE)

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Linen Underwear

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment(BF) and put it on,[n] but do not put it in water.” So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: “Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,[o] and go at once to the Euphrates[p] and hide it in a rocky crevice.”(BG) So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.(BH) 10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts,(BI) and who have followed other gods to serve and worship—they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11 Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me”(BJ)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory,(BK) but they would not obey.

The Wine Jars

12 “Say this to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ 13 And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land—the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14 I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.”(BL)

The Lord’s Warning

15 Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God(BM)
before He brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the mountains at dusk.
You wait for light,
but He brings darkest gloom[q]
and makes thick darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my innermost being will weep in secret
because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
for the Lord’s flock(BN) has been taken captive.

18 Say to the king and the queen mother:(BO)
Take a humble seat,
for your glorious crowns
have fallen from your heads.
19 The cities of the Negev are under siege;
no one can help them.
All of Judah has been taken into exile,
taken completely into exile.
20 Look up and see
those coming from the north.(BP)
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
the sheep that were your pride?

The Destiny of Jerusalem

21 What will you say when He appoints
close friends as leaders over you,
ones you yourself trained?
Won’t labor pains seize you,(BQ)
as they do a woman in labor?
22 And when you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me?”
It is because of your great guilt(BR)
that your skirts have been stripped off,(BS)
your body exposed.[r]
23 Can the Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
If so, you might be able to do what is good,(BT)
you who are instructed in evil.
24 I will scatter you[s] like drifting chaff(BU)
before the desert wind.
25 This is your lot,
what I have decreed for you—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in Falsehood.[t](BV)
26 I will pull your skirts up over your face
so that your shame might be seen.(BW)
27 Your adulteries and your lustful neighing,(BX)
your heinous prostitution
on the hills, in the fields—
I have seen your detestable acts.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean—
for how long yet?(BY)

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 11:7 Lit today, rising early and warning
  2. Jeremiah 11:13 = Baal
  3. Jeremiah 11:15 = sacrificial meat
  4. Jeremiah 11:15 LXX; MT reads meat pass from you
  5. Jeremiah 11:16 Vg; MT reads broken
  6. Jeremiah 11:19 Or pet
  7. Jeremiah 11:19 Lit bread
  8. Jeremiah 11:20 Lit kidneys
  9. Jeremiah 12:2 Lit are near in their mouth
  10. Jeremiah 12:2 Lit kidneys
  11. Jeremiah 12:4 LXX reads see our ways
  12. Jeremiah 12:5 Or you are secure
  13. Jeremiah 12:9 Hb obscure
  14. Jeremiah 13:1 Lit around your waist
  15. Jeremiah 13:4 Lit wearing around your waist
  16. Jeremiah 13:4 Perhaps a place near Anathoth with the same spelling as river
  17. Jeremiah 13:16 Or brings a shadow of death
  18. Jeremiah 13:22 Lit your heels have suffered violence
  19. Jeremiah 13:24 Lit them
  20. Jeremiah 13:25 = Baal

The Nature of the Son

Long ago God spoke(A) to the fathers by the prophets(B) at different times and in different ways.(C) In these last days,(D) He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe[a](E) through Him. The Son is the radiance[b] of God’s glory and the exact expression[c] of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins,[d] He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.[e](F) So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs.(G)

The Son Superior to Angels

For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father,[f][g] or again, I will be His Father, and He will be My Son?(H)[h] When He again[i] brings His firstborn into the world,(I) He says, And all God’s angels must worship Him.(J)[j] And about the angels He says:

He makes His angels winds,[k]
and His servants[l] a fiery flame,(K)[m]

but to[n] the Son:

Your throne, God,
is forever and ever,
and the scepter of Your kingdom
is a scepter of justice.(L)
You have loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness;
this is why God, Your God,
has anointed You
with the oil of joy(M)
rather than Your companions.[o][p]

10 And:

In the beginning, Lord,
You established the earth,
and the heavens are the works of Your hands;(N)
11 they will perish, but You remain.
They will all wear out like clothing;(O)
12 You will roll them up like a cloak,[q]
and they will be changed like a robe.
But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.(P)[r]

13 Now to which of the angels has He ever said:

Sit at My right hand
until I make Your enemies Your footstool?[s](Q)[t]

14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?(R)

Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 1:2 Lit ages
  2. Hebrews 1:3 Or reflection
  3. Hebrews 1:3 Or representation, or copy, or reproduction
  4. Hebrews 1:3 Other mss read for our sins by Himself
  5. Hebrews 1:3 Or He sat down on high at the right hand of the Majesty
  6. Hebrews 1:5 Or have begotten You
  7. Hebrews 1:5 Ps 2:7
  8. Hebrews 1:5 2Sm 7:14; 1Ch 17:13
  9. Hebrews 1:6 Or And again, when He
  10. Hebrews 1:6 Dt 32:43 LXX; Ps 97:7
  11. Hebrews 1:7 Or spirits
  12. Hebrews 1:7 Or ministers
  13. Hebrews 1:7 Ps 104:4
  14. Hebrews 1:8 Or about
  15. Hebrews 1:9 Or associates
  16. Hebrews 1:9 Ps 45:6-7
  17. Hebrews 1:12 Other mss omit like a cloak
  18. Hebrews 1:12 Ps 102:25-27
  19. Hebrews 1:13 Or enemies a footstool for Your feet
  20. Hebrews 1:13 Ps 110:1

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