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; ³ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ^(A)“Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant ⁴ which 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,’ ⁵ that 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.”

⁶ Then 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. ⁷ For 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.’ ”

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

¹¹ Therefore 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. ¹² Then 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. ¹³ For 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.

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

¹⁸ Now the Lord gave me knowledge of it, and I know it; for You showed me their doings. ¹⁹ But 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.”

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’— ²² therefore 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; ²³ and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even ^(AC)the year of their punishment.’ ”

Principles of Marriage

7 Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

^(A)It is good for a man not to touch a woman. ² Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. ^3 (B)Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ^5 (C)Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that ^(D)Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶ But I say this as a concession, ^(E)not as a commandment. ⁷ For ^(F)I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

⁸ But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ^(G)It is good for them if they remain even as I am; ⁹ but ^(H)if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Keep Your Marriage Vows

¹⁰ Now to the married I command, yet not I but the ^(I)Lord: ^(J)A wife is not to depart from her husband. ¹¹ But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife.

¹² But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. ¹³ And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. ¹⁴ For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise ^(K)your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. ¹⁵ But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us ^(L)to peace. ¹⁶ For how do you know, O wife, whether you will ^(M)save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?