Jeremiah Chapter 11
Showing all 23 verses for Jeremiah Chapter 11.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, "
"This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:"
I still speak into people's lives today, often through conscience, circumstance, or a quiet nudge to do what's right. Pay attention when that happens rather than dismissing it as noise.
"Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; "
"Listen to the terms of this covenant, and go tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem about it."
I want you to remember the commitments you've made - to yourself, to others, to what you believe is right - rather than quietly letting them slide until you've forgotten you ever agreed to them.
"And say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, "
"Tell them: this is what the LORD, Israel's God, says - anyone who doesn't keep the terms of this covenant is under a curse."
Actions have consequences built into them, not as punishment from a distance but as the natural shape of cause and effect. I'd rather you understand this now than discover it only after the fact.
"Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people, and I will be your God: "
"This is what I commanded your ancestors on the day I brought them out of Egypt, out of that iron furnace of slavery: obey me and do what I say, and you will be my people and I will be your God."
When I ask something of you, it's rooted in having already rescued and loved you first, not in trying to earn my affection through obedience. Respond out of gratitude for freedom already given, not fear of losing it.
"That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD. "
"...so that I could keep the promise I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land overflowing with milk and honey, which you have today. Then I responded: 'Amen, LORD' - so be it."
I don't ask you to just repeat truth you don't believe. Let your 'yes' mean something - agree with what's right in your own heart, not just perform agreement for others.
"Then the LORD said unto me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this covenant, and do them. "
"Then the LORD told me: announce all of this throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem - tell them to listen to the terms of this covenant and actually do them."
Knowing what's right isn't the same as doing it. I'm far more interested in what you actually do with truth than in how well you can recite it.
"For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. "
"Because I warned your ancestors persistently, from the day I brought them out of Egypt right up to today - getting up early again and again to insist, 'obey me.'"
I am patient - far more patient than people expect. But patience isn't the same as never having consequences; I keep calling you towards what's good long before anything difficult happens.
"Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do: but they did them not. "
"But they didn't obey, didn't even listen - each one just followed their own stubborn, wrongheaded impulses. So I will bring on them everything this covenant warned about, because they never actually kept its terms."
I'm not asking you to suppress who you are - I'm asking you to be honest when your own impulses are leading you somewhere destructive, and to choose differently rather than just following whatever you feel like.
"And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. "
"The LORD said to me: there's a conspiracy among the people of Judah and Jerusalem."
I want you to notice when wrongdoing becomes coordinated and normalised around you - a culture where everyone quietly agrees to look away. Don't let the crowd's agreement convince you something harmful is fine.
"They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words; and they went after other gods to serve them: the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers. "
"They've gone back to the same sins as their ancestors, who also refused to listen to me; they've chased after other gods to serve them - both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their forefathers."
I don't want you inheriting harmful patterns just because that's 'how it's always been done' in your family or community. You get to be the generation that breaks a cycle rather than repeating it.
"Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. "
"So this is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on them that they won't be able to escape - and even when they cry out to me, I won't listen."
I always hear a genuine turning of the heart. But crying out only once trouble finally lands, having ignored every earlier invitation to change, isn't the same as real change - I'd rather you come to me honestly now.
"Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. "
"Then the towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they've been burning incense to - but those gods won't save them at all when trouble hits."
Examine now, before the crisis, whether what you're leaning on can actually hold weight. Don't wait for an emergency to discover something was never going to help you.
"For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. "
"You had as many gods, Judah, as you had towns; and you set up as many altars to that shameful idol Baal as Jerusalem has streets."
Be careful what becomes so normal around you that you stop questioning it. Just because something is everywhere doesn't make it right - popularity was never proof of truth.
"Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. "
"So don't pray for this people, Jeremiah - don't cry out or plead on their behalf - because I won't listen to them when they cry to me in their trouble."
I want you to understand that love doesn't mean shielding you from every consequence forever. Sometimes the most loving thing is to let reality land, so real change can finally begin instead of being endlessly postponed.
"What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. "
"What business does my beloved have in my house, when she's been unfaithful with so many others? Can sacrifices now undo that? When you do evil, you actually celebrate it."
I care far more about the honesty of your heart than about going through the motions of looking devoted. Don't let ritual become a mask for a life that's actually pulling in the opposite direction.
"The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. "
"The LORD once named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful, full of good fruit - but now, with the roar of a great storm, he has set fire to it, and its branches are shattered."
When you see something good be destroyed - a relationship, an opportunity, a community - it's right to grieve that as real loss, not to pretend it never mattered. I never ask you to minimise genuine tragedy.
"For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal. "
"Because the LORD of heaven's armies, who planted you in the first place, has now announced disaster against you - because of the harm the whole nation, Israel and Judah both, has brought on itself by worshipping Baal."
I want you to see clearly that many of the hardest consequences in life trace back to our own choices, not to some external unfairness. Owning that is uncomfortable, but it's also where real change becomes possible.
"And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings. "
"The LORD let me know about it, and now I understand - you showed me exactly what they were doing."
I don't leave you unaware and unprotected when real danger is near you. Pay attention to the warnings that come your way, even uncomfortable ones, because they may be protecting you from harm you can't yet see.
"But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered. "
"I was like a lamb or ox being led to slaughter, completely unaware they were plotting against me, saying: 'Let's destroy the tree along with its fruit - let's cut him off from the land of the living so no one remembers his name.'"
I know what it costs to speak truth that others don't want to hear - sometimes people will actively try to silence you for it. I don't promise it will be easy, but I stand with anyone who suffers for honesty and integrity.
"But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause. "
"But LORD of heaven's armies, you who judge fairly and examine people's deepest motives and feelings - let me see you deal with them, because I've laid my case before you."
When you're wronged, I don't ask you to fake peace you haven't found yet. Bring your real anger and your case honestly before me rather than either suppressing it or acting on it yourself - let real justice be someone else's to carry.
"Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the LORD, that thou die not by our hand: "
"So this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth, Jeremiah's own hometown, who are trying to kill him, saying: 'Stop prophesying in the LORD's name, or we'll kill you.'"
I know that sometimes the people closest to you - family, hometown, your own community - can be the ones who resist you most when you try to live or speak with integrity. That pain is real, and you're not wrong to grieve it.
"Therefore thus saith 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: "
"So this is what the LORD of heaven's armies says: I am going to punish them - their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die from famine."
I don't ask you to pretend that real wrongdoing has no consequences. Justice matters, even when it's hard to sit with - what I ask of you is to leave the carrying-out of it in trustworthy hands rather than your own.
"And there shall be no remnant of them: for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their visitation. "
"None of them will survive - I am bringing disaster on the men of Anathoth, in the year appointed for their reckoning."
I want you to trust that wrongdoing doesn't go unanswered forever, even when it feels like people are getting away with harming others right now. Justice has its own timing, even when that timing isn't yours to control.