1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying:
2“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak them to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
3And you shall say to them: Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not listen to the words of this covenant,
4which I commanded your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Listen to my voice, and do them according to all that I command you, so that you may be my people and I may be your God—
5in order to establish the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.” And I answered and said, “Amen, Yahweh.”
6And Yahweh said to me: “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear the words of this covenant and do them.
7For I solemnly warned your fathers on the day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, and even to this day, rising early and warning, saying: Listen to my voice.
8But they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear; instead, each one walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant that I commanded them to do, but they did not do them.”
9And Yahweh said to me: “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words; and they themselves have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers.
11Therefore thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am bringing upon them disaster from which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.
12Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will surely not save them in the time of their disaster.
13For as many as your cities, so are your gods, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem, so many are the altars you have set up for the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
14As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up on their behalf a cry or a prayer, for I will not be listening at the time they call to me because of their disaster.
15What right has my beloved in my house, since she has carried out her many schemes? And the holy flesh—can they take it away from you? For your evil is here; then would you exult?
16A leafy olive tree, beautiful in its fruit and form—so Yahweh named you. But with the sound of a great roar he has set fire to it, and its branches are broken.
17And Yahweh of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced disaster against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah that they have done to provoke me to anger by burning incense to Baal.
18And Yahweh made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their deeds.
19But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter, and I did not know that against me they had devised schemes: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more.”
20But O Yahweh of hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the kidneys and the heart, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
21Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will die by our hand”—
22therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts: Behold, I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword, their sons and their daughters will die by famine,
23and no remnant will be left to them, for I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth in the year of their reckoning.
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