Jeremiah 11

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

This is [another] message that Yahweh told me:

2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, And speak ye to the men of Judah, And the inhabitants of 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 say thou to them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who will not obey 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, When I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, From the iron furnace, saying, “Obey ye my voice, And do all which I command you; So shall ye be my people, And I will be your 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 So that I may perform the oath, Which I made to your fathers, To give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” Then answered I, and said, So may it be, O Jehovah!

[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 Then said Jehovah to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, And the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye 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.

7 For I have earnestly admonished your fathers, From the time when I brought them up from the land of Egypt to this day, Rising early and admonishing them, saying, “Obey ye my voice!”

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 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, But walked every one in the obstinacy of his evil heart; Therefore have I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, Which I commanded them to obey, And they obeyed 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 Jehovah also said to me: A conspiracy hath been found among the men of Judah, And the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Then Yahweh said to me, “The people of Jerusalem and [the other cities in] Judah are rebelling against me.

10 They turn back to the iniquities of their forefathers, Who refused to hearken to my words; They go after strange gods and serve them; The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the 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 saith Jehovah: Behold I bring upon them a calamity, From which they shall not be able to escape; And though they cry to me, I will not hear 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 Then may the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem go, And cry to the gods to whom they burn incense; But they shall not save them at all in the time of their calamity.

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 thy cities are thy gods, O Judah! According to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to a thing of shame, Altars for burning 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 Therefore pray not thou for this people, Nor lift up a cry or a prayer for them; For I will not hear when they cry to me On account of their calamity.

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 What hath my beloved to do in my house, While many pollute it with wickedness? The holy flesh shall pass away from thee, For when thou doest evil, thou rejoicest.

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 Jehovah hath called thee an olive-tree, Green, fair, and of goodly fruit; With the noise of a great crackling doth he kindle a fire upon it, And the branches of it shall be broken.

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 For Jehovah of hosts, who planted thee, Hath pronounced evil against thee, On account of the wickedness of the house of Israel and of Judah, which they have committed In provoking 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 Jehovah made it known to me, and I knew it; Thou didst show me their machinations!

Yahweh revealed to me that [my enemies] were planning to kill me.

19 For I was like a tame lamb, that is led to the slaughter, And knew not that they had formed plots against me, [[saying, ]] “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, Let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name may no more be remembered!”

[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 But, O Jehovah of hosts, the righteous judge, Who triest the reins and the heart, I shall see thy vengeance on them, For to thee have I revealed 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 saith Jehovah against the men of Anathoth, Who seek thy life, and say, “Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah, Lest thou die by our hand!”

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 Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold, I will punish them; Their young men shall die by the sword; Their sons and their daughters shall die by 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 There shall be none of them left; For I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, At the time of their punishment.

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.”