Jeremiah 11-12

New King James Version

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that 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; ³and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(A)“Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant ⁴which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^(B)from the iron furnace, saying, ^(C)‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ ⁵that I may establish the ^(D)oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ^(E)‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day.” ’ ”

And I answered and said, ^[a]“So be it, Lord.”

⁶Then 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 ^(F)and do them. ⁷For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, ^(G)rising early and exhorting, saying, “Obey My voice.” ⁸^(H)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but ^(I)everyone ^[b]followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’ ”

⁹And the Lord said to me, ^(J)“A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to ^(K)the iniquities of their forefathers 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.”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to ^[c]escape; and ^(L)though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and ^(M)cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. ¹³For according to the number of your ^(N)cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.

¹⁴“So ^(O)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble.

¹⁵“What^(P) has My beloved to do in My house,
Having ^(Q)done lewd deeds with many?
And ^(R)the holy flesh has passed from you.
When you do evil, then you ^(S)rejoice.
¹⁶The Lord called your name,
^(T)Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire on it,
And its branches are broken.

¹⁷“For the Lord of hosts, ^(U)who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.”

Jeremiah’s Life Threatened

¹⁸Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. ¹⁹But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, ^(V)and let us cut him off from ^(W)the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”

²⁰But, O Lord of hosts,
You who judge righteously,
^(X)Testing the ^[d]mind and the heart,
Let me see Your ^(Y)vengeance on them,
For to You I have revealed my cause.

²¹“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^(Z)Anathoth who seek your life, saying, ^(AA)‘Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, lest you die by our hand’— ²²therefore 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 ^(AB)die by famine; ²³and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even ^(AC)the year of their punishment.’ ”

Jeremiah’s Question

12 Righteous ^(AD)are You, O Lord, when I plead with You;
Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments.
^(AE)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?
²You have planted them, yes, they have taken root;
They grow, yes, they bear fruit.
^(AF)You are near in their mouth
But far from their ^[e]mind.

³But You, O Lord, ^(AG)know me;
You have seen me,
And You have ^(AH)tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
And prepare them for ^(AI)the day of slaughter.
⁴How long will ^(AJ)the land mourn,
And the herbs of every field wither?
^(AK)The beasts and birds are consumed,
^(AL)For the wickedness of those who dwell there,
Because they said, “He will not see our final end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you,
Then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace,
In which you trusted, they wearied you,
Then how will you do in ^(AM)the ^[f]floodplain of the Jordan?
⁶For even ^(AN)your brothers, the house of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you;
Yes, they have called ^[g]a multitude after you.
^(AO)Do not believe them,
Even though they speak ^[h]smooth words to you.

⁷“I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies.
⁸My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest;
It cries out against Me;
Therefore I have ^(AP)hated it.
⁹My ^[i]heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture;
The vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
^(AQ)Bring them to devour!

¹⁰“Many ^(AR)rulers^[j] have destroyed ^(AS)My vineyard,
They have ^(AT)trodden My portion underfoot;
They have made My ^[k]pleasant portion a desolate wilderness.
¹¹They have made it ^(AU)desolate;
Desolate, it mourns to Me;
The whole land is made desolate,
Because ^(AV)no one takes it to heart.
¹²The plunderers have come
On all the desolate heights in the wilderness,
For the sword of the Lord shall devour
From one end of the land to the other end of the land;
No flesh shall have peace.
¹³^(AW)They have sown wheat but reaped thorns;
They have ^[l]put themselves to pain but do not profit.
But be ashamed of your harvest
Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord: “Against all My evil neighbors who ^(AX)touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit—behold, I will ^(AY)pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵^(AZ)Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them ^(BA)and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. ¹⁶And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, ^(BB)to swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be ^(BC)established in the midst of My people. ¹⁷But if they do not ^(BD)obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 11:5 Heb. Amen
Jeremiah 11:8 walked in the stubbornness or imagination
Jeremiah 11:11 Lit. go out
Jeremiah 11:20 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
Jeremiah 12:2 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
Jeremiah 12:5 Or thicket
Jeremiah 12:6 Or abundantly
Jeremiah 12:6 Lit. good
Jeremiah 12:9 inheritance
Jeremiah 12:10 Lit. shepherds or pastors
Jeremiah 12:10 desired portion of land
Jeremiah 12:13 Or strained

Jeremiah 26

New King James Version

Jeremiah Saved from Death^(A)

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ²“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand in ^(B)the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord’s house, ^(C)all the words that I command you to speak to them. ^(D)Do not diminish a word. ³^(E)Perhaps everyone will listen and turn from his evil way, that I may ^(F)relent concerning the calamity which I purpose to bring on them because of the evil of their doings.’ ⁴And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(G)“If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵to heed the words of My servants the prophets ^(H)whom I sent to you, both rising up early and sending them (but you have not heeded), ⁶then I will make this house like ^(I)Shiloh, and will make this city ^(J)a curse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

⁷So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸Now it happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You will surely die! ⁹Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be ^(K)desolate, without an inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat down in the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and all the people, saying, ^[a]“This man deserves to ^(L)die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears.”

¹²Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard. ¹³Now therefore, ^(M)amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; then the Lord will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴As for me, here ^(N)I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and ^[b]proper to you. ¹⁵But know for certain that if you put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

¹⁶So the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve to die. For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁷^(O)Then certain of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: ¹⁸^(P)“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(Q)“Zion shall be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem shall become ^(R)heaps of ruins,
And the mountain of the ^[c]temple
Like the ^[d]bare hills of the forest.” ’

¹⁹Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah ever put him to death? ^(S)Did he not fear the Lord and ^(T)seek the Lord’s favor? And the Lord ^(U)relented concerning the doom which He had pronounced against them. ^(V)But we are doing great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰Now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath Jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. ²¹And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Urijah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. ²²Then Jehoiakim the king sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor, and other men who went with him to Egypt. ²³And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the ^[e]common people.

²⁴Nevertheless ^(W)the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.