Jeremias 11
1 The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying,
This is [another] message that Yahweh told me:
2 Hear you the words of this covenant, and you shall speak to the men of Juda, and to the dwellers in Jerusalem;
“Listen to the agreement that I made with [the ancestors of] the people of Jerusalem and [the other cities in] Judah. Then remind them of [that agreement].
3 and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Cursed is the man, who shall not listen to the words of this covenant,
Then tell them that [I], Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli [people worship], said that I will curse everyone who does not obey what was written in that agreement that I made with them.
4 which I commanded your fathers, in the day wherein I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all things that I shall command you; so shall you be to me a people, and I will be to you a God;
It is the same agreement that I made with their ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. [What happened to them in Egypt was terrible; it was as though they were] living in a hot furnace [MET]. When I brought them out of Egypt, I told them to obey me, and to do everything that I had commanded them to do. [I also told them] that if they obeyed me, they would be my people and I would be their God.
5 that I may confirm mine oath, which I sware to your fathers, to give them a land flowing [with] milk and honey, as [it is] this day. Then I answered and said, So be it, O Lord.
[Now tell these people that if they obey me], I will do what I promised to do for their ancestors. I will enable them to continue living in this very fertile [IDM] land in which they now live.” I replied, “Yahweh, I hope that what you said will happen.”
6 And the Lord said to me, Read these words in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear you the words of this covenant, and do them.
Then Yahweh said to me, “Go into the streets of Jerusalem and to the [other] cities in Judah. Proclaim my message to the people. Tell them to listen to the agreement [that I made with their ancestors], and to obey it.
When I brought their ancestors out of Egypt, I solemnly pleaded with them many times to obey me, and I am still pleading with them now.
8 But they did [them] not.
But they did not obey me or [even] pay any attention to me. Everyone continued to be stubborn and to do the evil things that they wanted to do. I commanded them to do what was written in the agreement, but they refused. So I punished them in all the ways that I promised that I would.”
9 And the Lord said to me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Juda, and among the dwellers in Jerusalem.
Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Jerusalem and [the other cities in] Judah are rebelling against me.
10 They are turned [aside] to the iniquities of their fathers that were of old, who would not listen to my words: and, behold, they go after strange gods, to serve them: and the house of Israel and the house of Juda have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers.
Their ancestors refused to do what I told them to do, and [now] these people have returned to committing the sins that their ancestors committed. They are worshiping other gods. The people of Israel disobeyed the agreement that I made with their ancestors, and [now] the people of Judah have done the same thing.
11 Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I bring evils upon this people, out of which they shall not be able to come forth; and they shall presently cry to me, but I will not listen to them.
So now I, Yahweh, am warning them that I will cause them to experience disasters, and they will not escape them. And when they cry out for me [to help them], I will not pay attention.
12 And the cities of Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem shall go, and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense; which shall not deliver them in the time of their troubles.
When that happens, the people in Jerusalem and [other] cities in Judah will [offer sacrifices and] burn incense to their gods and ask for their help, but those gods will not be able to save them when those disasters come to them.
13 For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Juda; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to burn incense to Baal.
There are more gods in Judah than there are towns in Judah, and the people of Jerusalem have erected as many altars to burn incense [to those gods] as there are streets in Jerusalem.
14 And you, pray not for this people, and intercede not for them in supplication and prayer: for I will not hear in the day in which they call upon me, in the day of their affliction.
Jeremiah, do not pray for these people, and do not plead with me to rescue them. If you plead with me, I will not pay attention; and if they cry out to me for help when they are in distress, I will not listen to them.”
15 Why has [my] beloved wrought abomination in my house? will prayers and holy offerings take away your wickedness from you, or shall you escape by these things?
Then Yahweh said, “The people [of Judah] whom I love certainly no longer have [RHQ] a right to come to my temple, because they continually do many evil things. [They think that] continually making sacrifices of meat to me certainly will [RHQ] protect them from disasters, with the result that they will be able to rejoice.
16 The Lord called your name a fair olive tree, of a goodly shade in appearance, at the noise of its being lopped, fire was kindled against it; great is the affliction [coming] upon you: her branches are become good for nothing.
I previously said that they were like an olive tree full of green leaves with a lot of good olives on it, but [now I will send their enemies to attack] them furiously; [it is as though] I will break off their branches, and [their city] will be destroyed by fire.
17 And the Lord that planted you has pronounced evils against you, because of the iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Juda, whatever they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
[It is as though] the people of Judah and Israel were a beautiful olive tree that I, the Commander of the armies of angels, planted, but [now], by burning incense to [their god] Baal, they have caused me to become [very] angry. So [now] I have decided to destroy them.”
18 O Lord, teach me, and I shall know: then I saw their practices.
Yahweh revealed to me that [my enemies] were planning to kill me.
19 But I as an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, knew not: against me they devised an evil device, saying, Come and let us put wood into his bread, and let us utterly destroy him from off the land of the living, and let his name not be remembered any more.
[Before he did that], I was like a lamb that was being led away to be slaughtered; I did not know what they were planning to do. I did not know that they were saying, “Let’s get rid of this tree and its fruit,” so [I did not know] that they intended to kill me, in order that no one would remember me [MTY].
20 O Lord, that judge righteously, trying the reins and hearts, let me see your vengeance [taken] upon them, for to you I have declared my cause.
[Then I prayed], “Commander of the armies of angels, you judge people justly/fairly, and you examine everything that we are thinking [DOU]. Allow me to watch you getting revenge on the people [who want to kill me], because I trust that you will do for me what is right.”
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek my life, that say, You shall not prophesy at all in the name of the Lord, but if you do, you shall die by our hands:
It was the men of [my own town], Anathoth, who wanted to kill me, and they told me that they would kill me if I did not stop prophesying what Yahweh told me to say.
22 behold, I will visit them: their young men shall die by the sword; and their sons and their daughters shall die of famine:
So the Commander of the armies of angels said [about them], “I will punish them. Their young men will be killed in wars, and their children will die because they have no food.
23 and there shall be no remnant [left] of them; for I will bring evil upon the dwellers in Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.
I have set a time when I will bring disasters to the people of Anathoth, and when that happens, none of them will remain alive.”
