Jeremiah 9:17-26
The Lord rules over all. He says,
“Here is something I want you to think about.
Send for the women who mourn for the dead.
Send for the most skilled among them.”
Let them come quickly
and weep for us.
Let them cry until tears flow from our eyes.
Let them weep until water pours out of our eyes.
People are heard weeping in Zion.
They are saying, “We are destroyed!
We are filled with shame!
We must leave our land.
Our houses have been torn down.”
You women, hear the Lord’s message.
Listen to what he’s saying.
Teach your daughters how to mourn for the dead.
Teach one another a song of sadness.
Death has climbed in through our windows.
It has entered our forts.
Death has removed the children from the streets.
It has taken the young men out of the market.
Say, “The Lord announces,
“ ‘Dead bodies will be like human waste
lying in the open fields.
They will lie there like grain
that is cut down at harvest time.
No one will gather them up.’ ”
The Lord says,
“Do not let wise people brag about how wise they are.
Do not let strong people boast about how strong they are.
Do not let rich people brag about how rich they are.
But here is what the one who brags should boast about.
They should brag that they have the understanding to know me.
I want them to know that I am the Lord.
No matter what I do on earth, I am always kind, fair and right.
And I take delight in this,”
announces the Lord.
“The days are coming when I will judge people,” announces the Lord. “I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their bodies. That includes the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. It also includes all those who live in the desert in places far away. None of the people in these nations is really circumcised. And not even the people of Israel are circumcised in their hearts.”
Jeremiah 10:1-25
The Lord Is the Only True God
People of Israel, listen to what the Lord is telling you. He says,
“Do not follow the practices of other nations.
Do not be terrified by warnings in the sky.
Do not be afraid, even though the nations are terrified by them.
The practices of these nations are worthless.
People cut a tree out of the forest.
A skilled worker shapes the wood with a sharp tool.
Others decorate it with silver and gold.
They use a hammer to nail it to the floor.
They want to keep it from falling down.
The statues of their gods can’t speak.
They are like scarecrows in a field of cucumbers.
Their statues have to be carried around
because they can’t walk.
So do not be afraid of their gods.
They can’t do you any harm.
And they can’t do you any good either.”
Lord, no one is like you.
You are great.
You are mighty and powerful.
King of the nations,
everyone should have respect for you.
That’s what people should give you.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
there is no one like you.
No one can compare with you in all their kingdoms.
All of them are foolish. They don’t have any sense.
They think they are taught by worthless wooden gods.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish.
Gold is brought from Uphaz.
People skilled in working with wood and gold make a statue.
Then they put blue and purple clothes on it.
The whole thing is made by skilled workers.
But you are the only true God.
You are the only living God.
You are the King who rules forever.
When you are angry, the earth trembles with fear.
The nations can’t stand up under your anger.
The Lord speaks to the Jews living in Babylon. He says, “Here is what you must tell the people of the nations. Tell them, ‘Your gods did not make the heavens and the earth. In fact, these gods will disappear from the earth. They will vanish from under the heavens.’ ”
But God used his power to make the earth.
His wisdom set the world in place.
His understanding spread out the heavens.
When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar.
He makes clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other.
He sends lightning along with the rain.
He brings the wind out from his storerooms.
No one has any sense or knows anything at all.
Everyone who works with gold is put to shame by his gods.
The metal gods he has made are fakes.
They can’t even breathe.
They are worthless things that people make fun of.
When the Lord judges them, they will be destroyed.
The God of Jacob is not like them.
He gives his people everything they need.
He made everything that exists.
And that includes Israel.
They are the people who belong to him.
His name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
The Land Will Be Destroyed
People of Jerusalem, your enemies have surrounded you.
They are attacking you.
So gather up what belongs to you.
Then leave the land.
The Lord says,
“I am about to throw out of this land
everyone who lives in it.
I will bring trouble on them.
They will be captured.”
How terrible it will be for me!
I’ve been wounded!
And my wound can’t be healed!
In spite of that, I said to myself,
“I’m sick. But I’ll have to put up with it.”
Jerusalem is like a tent that has been destroyed.
All its ropes have snapped.
My people have gone away from me.
Now no one is left to set up my tent.
I have no one to set up my shelter.
The leaders of my people are like shepherds
who don’t have any sense.
They don’t ask the Lord for advice.
That’s why they don’t succeed.
And that’s why their whole flock
is scattered like sheep.
Listen! A message is coming!
I hear the sound of a great army
marching down from the north!
It will turn Judah’s towns into a desert.
They will become a home for wild dogs.
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
Lord, I know that a person doesn’t control their own life.
They don’t direct their own steps.
Correct me, Lord, but please be fair.
Don’t correct me when you are angry.
If you do, nothing will be left of me.
Pour out your great anger on the nations.
They don’t pay any attention to you.
They refuse to worship you.
They have destroyed the people of Jacob.
They’ve wiped them out completely.
They’ve also destroyed the land they lived in.
Jeremiah 11:1-17
The Lord’s People Have Broken His Covenant
A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord said, “Listen to the terms of the covenant I made with my people of long ago. Tell Judah the terms still apply to them. Tell those who live in Jerusalem that they must obey them too. I am the Lord, the God of Israel. So let the people know what I want them to do. Here is what I want you to tell them. ‘May the person who does not obey the terms of the covenant be under my curse. I gave those terms to your people of long ago. That was when I brought them out of Egypt. I saved them out of that furnace that melts down iron and makes it pure.’ I said, ‘Obey me. Do everything I command you to do. Then you will be my people. And I will be your God. I raised my hand and made a promise to your people of long ago. I promised them I would give them a land that had plenty of milk and honey.’ It is the land you own today. I kept my promise.”
I replied, “Amen, Lord.”
The Lord said to me, “Here is what I want you to announce in the towns of Judah. Say it also in the streets of Jerusalem. Tell the people, ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant. Obey them. Long ago I brought your people up from Egypt. From that time until today, I warned them again and again. I said, “Obey me.” But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. So I brought down on them all the curses of the covenant. I commanded them to obey it. But they refused.’ ”
The Lord continued, “The people of Judah have made some evil plans. So have those who live in Jerusalem. All of them have returned to the sins their people of long ago committed. Those people refused to listen to what I told them. And now the people of Israel and Judah alike have worshiped other gods and served them. They have broken the covenant I made with their people who lived before them. So I say, ‘I will bring trouble on them. They will not be able to escape it. They will cry out to me. But I will not listen to them. The people of Jerusalem and of the towns of Judah will cry out. They will cry out to the gods they burn incense to. But those gods will not help them at all when trouble strikes them. Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns. And in Jerusalem you have set up as many altars as there are streets. You are burning incense to that shameful god named Baal.’
“Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. They will call out to me when they are in trouble. But I will not listen to them.
“I love the people of Judah.
But they are working out their evil plans along with many others.
So what are they doing in my temple?
Can meat that is offered to me keep me from punishing you?
When you do evil things, you get a lot of pleasure from them.”
People of Judah, the Lord once called you a healthy olive tree.
He thought its fruit was beautiful.
But now he will come with the roar of a mighty storm.
He will set the tree on fire.
And its branches will be broken.
The Lord who rules over all planted you. But now he has ordered your enemies to destroy you. The people of Israel and Judah have both done what is evil. They have made the Lord very angry by burning incense to Baal.
