Jeremiah 11:1-17

YAHWEH spoke these words to Jeremiah: “Hear the terms of this covenant and repeat them to the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. Preach to them, ‘YAHWEH, the God of Israel, says to you: A curse will rest on whoever disobeys the terms of this covenant that I made with your ancestors when I freed them from the fiery, iron furnace of their suffering in Egypt. Now, listen to my voice and do all that I commanded you, and you will be a beloved people to me, and I, I will be your God, so that I may keep the promise that I gave to your fathers to give them a beautiful land flowing with milk and honey, the land which is yours today.’ ” And I answered him, and said, “Yes, YAHWEH, amen.” Then YAHWEH said to me: “Preach this message in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I warned your fathers repeatedly, when I freed them from the land of Egypt until now, to listen to my voice. But they refused to listen or change their ways. They lived in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, so I finally enforced the penalties of disobeying this covenant and its terms which I commanded them to keep.’ ” And YAHWEH said to me: “The people of Judah and Jerusalem conspire against me. They have turned back to commit again the same sins of their ancestors, who ignored my words. They, too, have chased after foreign gods to serve them. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their ancestors. “Therefore, I, YAHWEH, say: Behold! I am bringing calamity upon them from which they will not be able to escape. And they will cry to me, but I will pay no attention. The cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but those false gods certainly will not be able to save them when calamity comes. The people of Judah worship as many gods as they have cities. They have as many altars to burn incense to that shameful one, Baal, as they have streets in Jerusalem. “Jeremiah, do not pray for these people nor cry out nor intercede on their behalf, for when trouble strikes and they cry out to me, I will pay no attention. “My dearly beloved ones have done so much evil that they no longer have a right to come into my temple. Can the flesh of their many sacrifices avert their doom? When I send calamity, they will have nothing to be joyful about. I, YAHWEH, once called you a green olive tree, full of leaves and bearing beautiful fruit. But with the sound of a great roar, I will set fire and consume its branches. For I, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, planted you and have decreed disaster against you because of the evil of the people of Israel and the people of Judah. You have provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”