11:1 The LORD said to Jeremiah:¹ 11:2 “Hear² the terms of the agreement³ I made with Israel⁴ and pass them on⁵ to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.⁶ 11:3 Tell them that the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Anyone who does not keep the terms of the agreement will be under a curse.⁷ 11:4 Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors to keep⁸ when I brought them out of Egypt, that place which was like an iron smelting furnace.⁹ I said at that time,¹⁰ “Obey me and carry out the terms of the agreement¹¹ just exactly as I commanded you. If you do,¹² you will be my people and I will be your God.¹³ 11:5 Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors and give them a land of fertile fields and fine pastures.”¹⁴ That is the very land that you still live in today.’”¹⁵ And I responded, “Amen! Let it be so,¹⁶ LORD!”

11:6 The LORD said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Announce: ‘Listen to the terms of my agreement with you¹⁷ and carry them out. 11:7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me.¹⁸ I warned them again and again¹⁹ ever since I delivered them of Egypt until this very time. 11:8 But they did listen to me or pay any attention to me. Each one of them followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. So I brought on them all the punishments threatened in the agreement. That is because they did not carry out the terms of the agreement as I commanded them to.²⁰

11:9 The LORD said to me, “The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me.²¹ 11:10 They have gone back to the evil ways²² of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to²³ other gods and worshipped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah have violated the agreement that I made with their ancestors. 11:11 So, I, the LORD, say,²⁴ ‘I will soon bring disaster on them which they will not be able to escape. And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. 11:12 Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will²⁵ go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means²⁶ be able to save them when disaster strikes them. 11:13 This is in spite of the fact that²⁷ the people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns²⁸ and the citizens of Jerusalem have set up as many altars to sacrifice to that disgusting god, Baal, as they have streets in the city.’²⁹ 11:14 So, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf. Do not plead with me to save them.³⁰ For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.”³¹

11:15 The LORD says to³² the people of Judah,

“What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people?³³
Many of you have done wicked things.³⁴
Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings³⁵
that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them?³⁶
11:16 I, the LORD, once called³⁷ you a thriving olive tree,
one that produced beautiful fruit.
But I will set you³⁸ on fire
that will blaze with a mighty roar.³⁹
Then all your branches will be good for nothing.⁴⁰
11:17 For though I, the LORD who rules over all,⁴¹ planted you in the land⁴²
I now decree that disaster will come on you.⁴³
That is because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil
and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.”⁴⁴

11:18 The LORD gave me knowledge that I might have understanding.⁴⁵
Then He showed me what the people were doing.⁴⁶
11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter. I did not know they were making plans to kill me.⁴⁷ I did not know they were saying,⁴⁸
“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit.⁴⁹
Let’s remove Jeremiah⁵⁰ from the world of the living
so people will not even be reminded of him any more.”⁵¹
11:20 So I said to the LORD,⁵²
“O LORD who rules over all,⁵³ you are a just judge.
You examine peoples’ hearts and minds.⁵⁴
I want to see you pay them back for what they have done
because I trust you to vindicate my cause.”⁵⁵

11:21 Then the LORD spoke to me about⁵⁶ some men from Anathoth⁵⁷ who were threatening to kill me. They had threatened,⁵⁸ “Stop prophesying in the name of the LORD or we will kill you.” 11:22 So the LORD who rules over all⁵⁹ said, “I will surely⁶⁰ punish them. Their young men will be killed in battle.⁶¹ Their sons and daughters will die of starvation. 11:23 I will bring disaster on those men from Anathoth who threatened you.⁶² A day of reckoning is coming for them.⁶³ Not a one of them will be left alive.”⁶⁴