The Broken Covenant
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “aHear the words of this bcovenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “aCursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your forefathers in the aday that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the biron furnace, saying, ‘cListen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be dMy people, and I will be your God,’ 5 in order to confirm the aoath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “bAmen, O Lord.”
6 And the Lord said to me, “aProclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘bHear the words of this covenant and cdo them. 7 For I solemnly awarned your fathers in the bday that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, cwarning persistently, saying, “dListen to My voice.” 8 Yet they adid not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the bwords of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”
9 Then the Lord said to me, “A aconspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have aturned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who brefused to hear My words, and they chave gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dbroken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” 11 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am abringing disaster on them which they will bnot be able to escape; though they will ccry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will ago and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. 13 For your gods are aas many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the bshameful thing, altars to cburn incense to Baal.
14 “Therefore ado not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will bnot listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.
15 “What right has My abeloved in My house
When bshe has done many vile deeds?
Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,
So that you can rejoice?”
16 The Lord called your name,
“A agreen olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;
With the bnoise of a great tumult
He has ckindled fire on it,
And its branches are worthless.
17 The Lord of hosts, who aplanted you, has bpronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by coffering up sacrifices to Baal.
Plots against Jeremiah
18 Moreover, the Lord amade it known to me and I knew it;
Then You showed me their deeds.
19 But I was like a gentle alamb led to the slaughter;
And I did not know that they had bdevised plots against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
And clet us cut him off from the dland of the living,
That his ename be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who ajudges righteously,
Who btries the feelings and the heart,
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of aAnathoth, who bseek your life, saying, “cDo not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you will not ddie at our hand”; 22 therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I am about to apunish them! The byoung men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant awill not be left to them, for I will bbring disaster on the men of Anathoth—cthe year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah’s Prayer
aRighteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would bdiscuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the cway of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who ddeal in treachery at ease?
2 You have aplanted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
You are bnear to their lips
But far from their mind.
3 But You aknow me, O Lord;
You see me;
And You bexamine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And set them apart for a cday of carnage!
4 How long is the aland to mourn
And the bvegetation of the countryside to wither?
For the cwickedness of those who dwell in it,
dAnimals and birds have been snatched away,
Because men have said, “He will not see our latter eending.”
5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the athicket of the Jordan?
6 “For even your abrothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have cried aloud after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say bnice things to you.”
God’s Answer
7 “I have aforsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have given the bbeloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 “My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has aroared against Me;
Therefore I have come to bhate her.
9 “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the abirds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the bbeasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 “Many ashepherds have ruined My bvineyard,
They have ctrampled down My field;
They have made My dpleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
11 “It has been made a desolation,
Desolate, it amourns before Me;
The bwhole land has been made desolate,
Because no man clays it to heart.
12 “On all the abare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For a bsword of the Lord is devouring
From one end of the land even to the other;
There is cno peace for anyone.
13 “They have asown wheat and have reaped thorns,
They have bstrained themselves to no profit.
But be ashamed of your charvest
Because of the dfierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all My awicked neighbors who bstrike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will cuproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will aagain have compassion on them; and I will bbring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 Then if they will really alearn the ways of My people, to bswear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to cswear by Baal, they will be dbuilt up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not listen, then I will auproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.
The Ruined Waistband
Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and abuy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought the waistband in accordance with the aword of the Lord and put it around my waist. 3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, 4 “Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the aEuphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, aas the Lord had commanded me. 6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Just so will I destroy the apride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who arefuse to listen to My words, who bwalk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. 11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah acling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for brenown, for cpraise and for glory; but they ddid not listen.’
Captivity Threatened
12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with adrunkenness! 14 I will adash them against each other, both the bfathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will cnot show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”
15 Listen and give heed, do not be ahaughty,
For the Lord has spoken.
16 aGive glory to the Lord your God,
Before He brings bdarkness
And before your cfeet stumble
On the dusky mountains,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into ddeep darkness,
And turns it into gloom.
17 But aif you will not listen to it,
My soul will bsob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the cflock of the Lord has been taken captive.
18 Say to the aking and the queen mother,
“bTake a lowly seat,
For your beautiful ccrown
Has come down from your head.”
19 The acities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All bJudah has been carried into exile,
Wholly carried into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming afrom the north.
Where is the bflock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 “What will you say when He appoints over you—
And you yourself had taught them—
Former acompanions to be head over you?
Will not bpangs take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?
22 “If you asay in your heart,
‘bWhy have these things happened to me?’
Because of the cmagnitude of your iniquity
dYour skirts have been removed
And your heels have been exposed.
23 “aCan the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can bdo good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 “Therefore I will ascatter them like drifting straw
To the desert bwind.
25 “This is your alot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Because you have bforgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
26 “So I Myself have also astripped your skirts off over your face,
That your shame may be seen.
27 “As for your aadulteries and your lustful neighings,
The blewdness of your prostitution
On the chills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
dHow long will you remain unclean?”