The Broken Covenant
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
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1"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 2Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant
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that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, 3from the iron furnace, saying, 4Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. 5So shall you be my people, and I will be your God,
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6that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, 7to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day." Then I answered, "So be it, LORD."
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And the LORD said to me, 8"Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: 9Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
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For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, 10warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, 11Obey my voice.
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12Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, 13but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all 14the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not."
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Again the LORD said to me, 15"A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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They have turned back to 16the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. 17They have gone after other gods to serve them. 18The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers.
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Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. 19Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.
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Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem 20will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, 21but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble.
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22For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, 23altars to make offerings to Baal.
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"Therefore 24do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, 25for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.
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26What right has my beloved in my house, 27when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? 28Can you then exult?
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The LORD once called you 29'a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.' But 30with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and 31its branches will be consumed.
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The LORD of hosts, 32who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, 33provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal."
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The LORD made it known to me and I knew; then you showed me their deeds.
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But I was 34like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know 35it was against me they devised schemes, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, 36let us cut him off from 37the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more."
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But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, who 38tests 39the heart and the mind, 40let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.
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Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of 41Anathoth, 42who seek your life, and say, 43"Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand"--
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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 die by famine,
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)