Jer 11, Jer 20 | ESV | STEP | The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord :

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ^a“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: ^bCursed 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, ^cfrom the iron furnace, saying, ^dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^eSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 ^fthat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^gto 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, ^h“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ⁱHear 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, ^jwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^kObey my voice. 8 ^lYet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^mbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ⁿthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

9 Again the Lord said to me, ^o“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to ^pthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^qThey have gone after other gods to serve them. ^rThe 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. ^sThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^twill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^ubut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 ^vFor 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, ^waltars to make offerings to Baal.

14 “Therefore ^xdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^yfor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 ^zWhat right has my beloved in my house, ^aawhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^abCan you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you ^ac‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^adwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^aeits branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ^afwho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^agprovoking 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 ^ahlike a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
I did not know ^aiit was against me
they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
^ajlet us cut him off from ^akthe land of the living,
that his name be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
who ^altests ^amthe heart and the mind,
^anlet me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^aoAnathoth, ^apwho seek your life, and say, ^aq“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 ^arAnathoth, ^asthe year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah 20

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

1 Now ^atPashhur the priest, the son of ^auImmer, who was ^avchief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Then ^awPashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him ^axin the stocks that were in the upper ^ayBenjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. 3 The next day, when ^azPashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name ^baPashhur, but Terror on Every Side. 4 For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you ^bba terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. 5 Moreover, ^bcI will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its ^bdprized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. 6 And you, ^bePashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, ^bfto whom you have prophesied falsely.”

7 O Lord, ^bgyou have deceived me,
and I was deceived;
^bhyou are stronger than I,
and you have prevailed.
^biI have become a laughingstock all the day;
everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, ^bj“Violence and destruction!”
For ^bkthe word of the Lord has become for me
^bla reproach and ^bmderision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
^bnthere is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and ^boI am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
10 ^bpFor I hear many whispering.
^bqTerror is on every side!
“Denounce him! ^brLet us denounce him!”
say all my ^bsclose friends,
^btwatching for ^bumy fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
then ^bvwe can overcome him
and take our revenge on him.”
11 But ^bwthe Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble;
^bxthey will not overcome me.
^byThey will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their ^bzeternal dishonor
will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
^cawho sees the heart and the mind, ^{▼▼Hebrew kidneys}
let me see your vengeance upon them,
for to you have I committed my cause.
13 ^ccSing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.
14 ^cdCursed be the day
on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
let it not be blessed!
15 Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
^cemaking him very glad.
16 Let that man be like ^cfthe cities
that the Lord overthrew without pity;
^cglet him hear a cry in the morning
and an alarm at noon,
17 ^chbecause he did not kill me in the womb;
so my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb forever great.
18 ^ciWhy did I come out from the womb
^cjto see toil and sorrow,
and spend my days in shame?