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Judah’s broken covenant with God

11 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: Listen to the terms of this covenant and proclaim them to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. Say to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed are those who don’t heed the terms of this covenant that I commanded your ancestors when I bought them out of the land of Egypt, that iron crucible, saying, Obey me and observe all that I instruct you. Then you will be my people and I, even I, will be your God. I will fulfill my solemn pledge that I made to your ancestors to give them a land full of milk and honey, as is the case today.

And I replied, “As you say, Lord!”

The Lord said to me: Announce all these words in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the terms of this covenant and perform them. I repeatedly and tirelessly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt to this very day, saying, Obey me. But they didn’t listen or pay attention; they followed their own willful ambitions. So I brought upon them all the punishments I prescribed for violating this covenant—for refusing to obey.

The Lord said to me: A conspiracy is taking place among the people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey my words. They too are following other gods and serving them. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their ancestors.

11 Therefore, the Lord proclaims: I will bring upon them a disaster from which they won’t be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I won’t listen to them. 12 Then the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will call upon the gods they worship,[a] but they won’t save them when disaster strikes. 13 You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah, and you have as many shameful altars for worshipping Baal as you have streets in Jerusalem.

14 As for you, don’t pray for these people, don’t cry out or plead for them, for I won’t listen when they cry out to me on account of their distress.

15 What are my loved ones doing in my temple
    while working out their many evil schemes?
Can sacred offerings cancel your sin
    so that you revel in your evil deeds?[b]
16 The Lord named you,
    “A blossoming olive tree, fair and fruitful”;
        but with the blast of a powerful storm
        he will set it ablaze,
        until its branches are completely consumed.[c]

17 The Lord of heavenly forces who planted you has announced disaster for you, because the people of Israel and Judah have done evil and made me angry by worshipping Baal.

Jeremiah’s lament

18 The Lord informed me and I knew.
    Then he helped me see what they were up to.
19 I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter;
    I didn’t realize that they were planning
        their schemes against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
    let’s cut him off from the land of the living
    so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out.”
20 Lord of heavenly forces, righteous judge,
    who tests the heart and mind,
        let me see your revenge upon them,
        because I have committed my case to you.

21 This is what the Lord says concerning the men from Anathoth who seek your life and say, “Don’t prophesy in the Lord’s name or else you will die at our hands.” 22 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims, I’m going to punish them. Their young men will die in war, and their sons and daughters will die by famine. 23 No one will be left because I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth when their time comes.

12 If I took you to court, Lord,
    you would win.
But I still have questions about your justice.
    Why do guilty persons enjoy success?
    Why are evildoers so happy?
You plant them, and they take root;
    they flourish and bear fruit.
You are always on their lips
    but far from their hearts.
Yet you, Lord, you know me.
    You see me.
You can tell that I love you.[d]
    So drag them away
    and butcher them like sheep.
    Prepare them for the slaughterhouse.
How long will the land mourn
    and the grass in the fields dry up?
The animals and birds are swept away
    due to the evil of those in the land.
The people say,
    “God doesn’t see what we’re up to!”

If you have raced with people and are worn out,
    how will you compete with horses?
If you fall down in an open field,[e]
    how will you survive in the forest along the Jordan?
Even your relatives, your very family,
    are planning to trap you.
        They are out to get you.
    So don’t trust them,
        even if they appear to be on your side.

God’s lament over Judah’s destruction

I have abandoned my house;
    I have deserted my inheritance.
    I have given the one I love
        into the power of her enemies.
My inheritance has turned against me
    like a lion in the forest;
        she growls at me;
            therefore, I have rejected her.
My inheritance has become
    like a bird of prey,
        surrounded and attacked.[f]
Go, gather all the wild animals for the feast.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    they have trampled down my field;
    they have reduced my treasured field
        to a desolate wilderness.
11 They have devastated her;
    desolate, she cries out to me in distress:
        “The whole land is desolate,
        and no one seems to care.”
12 Over all the desert roads
    destroyers march;
        for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
        no one is safe.
13 They have sown wheat and reaped weeds;
    they have worn themselves out for nothing.
They will be ashamed of their[g] harvest
    on account of the Lord’s fierce anger.

14 The Lord proclaims: The evil nations have seized the land[h] that I gave my people Israel. I’m going to dig them up from their own lands, and I will dig up the people of Judah from among them. 15 And after I have dug them up, I will again have compassion on them and restore their inheritance and their land. 16 And then, if they will learn the ways of my people, to make a solemn pledge in my name, “As the Lord lives,” just as they once taught my people to swear to Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if they don’t listen, I will dig up that nation; yes, I will dig up and destroy, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah’s symbolic acts

13 The Lord proclaimed to me: Go and buy a linen undergarment. Wear it for a while without washing it. So I bought a linen undergarment, as the Lord told me, and I put it on. The Lord spoke to me again: Take the undergarment that you are wearing and go at once to the Euphrates and put it under a rock. So I went and buried it at the Euphrates,[i] as the Lord instructed. After a long time, the Lord said to me: Return to the Euphrates and dig up the undergarment that I commanded you to bury there. So I went to the Euphrates and I dug up the linen undergarment from the place I had buried it. But it was ruined and good for nothing.

Then the Lord’s word came to me: The Lord proclaims: In the same way I will ruin the brazen pride of Judah and Jerusalem! 10 Instead of listening to me, this wicked people follow their own willful hearts and pursue other gods, worshipping and serving them. They will become like this linen garment—good for nothing! 11 Just as a linen undergarment clings to the body, so I created the people of Israel and Judah to cling to me, declares the Lord, to be my people for my honor, praise, and grandeur. But they wouldn’t obey.

12 So deliver this word to them: The Lord the God of Israel proclaims: Every wine jug should be filled with wine. And they will answer you, “Don’t we already know that? Obviously every wine jug should be filled with wine!” 13 Then you should say to them: The Lord proclaims: I’m going to fill everyone who lives in this country with wine that makes them drunk, including the kings on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those living in Jerusalem. 14 And I will shatter every one of them, even parents and children, declares the Lord. I won’t take pity; I won’t have compassion; I will show no mercy when I destroy them.

15 Listen closely, don’t be arrogant,
    for the Lord has spoken.
16 Honor the Lord your God,
    before it’s too late,
    before you stumble
        on the mountain paths
        in the evening shadows.
Then you will hope for light,
    only to find darkness and gloom.
17 If you are too proud to listen,
    I will go off alone
        and cry my eyes out.
I will weep uncontrollably
    because the Lord’s flock
    will be dragged off into exile.
18 Tell the king and the queen mother:
    Come down from your lofty place,
        because your glorious crowns
            will soon be removed from your heads.
19 The towns of the arid southern plain will be surrounded;
    no one will get in or out;
        all Judah will be taken into exile;
            everyone will be led away.

20 Lift up your eyes
    and see who is approaching from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
    your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you:
    your defenders, your trusted allies?[j]
Won’t pain grip you
    like that of a woman in labor?
22 And when you ask yourself,
    Why have all these things happened to me?
        it is because of your many sins
        that you have been stripped and violated.
23 Can a Cushite change his skin
    or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
    when doing evil comes so naturally.
24 So I will scatter you[k] like straw
    that is blown away by the desert winds.
25 This is the future
    that I have prepared for you,
        declares the Lord,
    because you have forgotten me
        and trusted in lies.
26 I myself will pull up your skirt over your face
    and expose your shame.
27 I have seen your adultery and lust,
    your disgusting idols and shameless prostitution
        on the hills and in the fields.
How terrible for you, Jerusalem!
    How long will you remain dirty?

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 11:12 Or to whom they burn incense
  2. Jeremiah 11:15 Heb uncertain
  3. Jeremiah 11:16 Vulg; MT broken
  4. Jeremiah 12:3 Or You test my heart.
  5. Jeremiah 12:5 Or If you are at ease only when in a peaceful land
  6. Jeremiah 12:9 Heb uncertain
  7. Jeremiah 12:13 Or your
  8. Jeremiah 12:14 Or inheritance
  9. Jeremiah 13:5 Heb Perath
  10. Jeremiah 13:21 Heb uncertain
  11. Jeremiah 13:24 Or them

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