The Broken Covenant
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ver. 6, 8;[2 Kgs. 23:3]"Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Deut. 27:26;Gal. 3:10Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant 4 that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, Deut. 4:20from the iron furnace, saying, ch. 7:22,23;Lev. 26:3,12Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ch. 7:22,23;Lev. 26:3,12So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 Deut. 7:12,13;Ps. 105:9,10that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, See Ex. 3:8to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day." Then I answered, "So be it, Lord."
6 And the Lord said to me, [ch. 19:2] "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ver. 2, 8;[2 Kgs. 23:3]Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ch. 7:25;See 2 Chr. 36:15warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, [See ver. 4above]Obey my voice. 8 ch. 7:26;32:23Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, See ch. 3:17but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all [See ver. 6above]the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not."
9 Again the Lord said to me, Ezek. 22:25;[Isa. 8:12;Hos. 6:9]"A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to [ch. 17:23;Ps. 78:8;79:8;Ezek. 20:18] the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. [ch. 17:23;Ps. 78:8;79:8;Ezek. 20:18] They have gone after other gods to serve them. Deut. 31:16,20The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Prov. 1:28;Isa. 1:15;Ezek. 8:18;Mic. 3:4Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ch. 2:28;[Acts 17:16]will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ch. 2:28;[Acts 17:16]but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 [See ver. 12above] For 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, [Hos. 9:10]; See Judg. 6:25-32altars to make offerings to Baal.
14 "Therefore ch. 7:16;[Heb. 10:26;1 John 5:16] do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, [See ver. 11above]for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 Isa. 1:11,12What right has my beloved in my house, [Ezek. 16:25] when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Prov. 2:14Can you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you Ps. 52:8;[Hos. 14:6] ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But [Ps. 83:2] with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and Rom. 11:17,20its branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ch. 2:21;Isa. 5:2who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, See ch. 7:18provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal."
18 The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
then you showed me their deeds.
19 But I was Isa. 53:7;[Rev. 5:6] like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know ch. 18:18;Lam. 3:60,61it was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
"Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
Ps. 83:4;Isa. 53:8let us cut him off from Ps. 27:13the land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more."
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
who ch. 17:10;20:12;Ps. 7:9;Rev. 2:23tests See 1 Sam. 16:7the heart and the mind,
ch. 15:15;17:18;20:12;Lam. 3:64let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Josh. 21:18Anathoth, [ch. 12:6;Matt. 13:57] who seek your life, and say, Isa. 30:10"Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will 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 die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Josh. 21:18Anathoth, ch. 23:12the year of their punishment."