Jeremiah 11:9-19

9 The Lord said to me, "A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.
10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors[a] who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them.[b] The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.
11 "Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.[c] They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them.
12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.[d]
13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,[e] and the altars you have set up to Shame[f][g]-altars to burn incense to Baal-as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.
14 "As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,[h] for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.
15 What [right] does My beloved have to be in My house,[i] having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat[j][k]prevent your disaster[l] so you can rejoice?
16 The Lord named you a flourishing olive tree,[m] beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed[n][o] with a great roaring sound.[p]
17 "The Lord of Hosts who planted you[q] has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal."
18 The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds,
19 for I was like a docile[r] lamb led to slaughter.[s] I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit;[t] let's cut him off from the land of the living[u] so that his name will no longer be remembered."

Jeremiah 11:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 11

This chapter gives an account of the covenant God had made with the people of the Jews; their breach of it; and the evils threatened them on that account; and particularly against the men of Anathoth, for their ill treatment of the prophet. It begins with the order to Jeremiah to rehearse the words of the covenant in the ears of the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Jer 11:1-3, which covenant is described by the sanction of it; a curse in case of disobedience; and a promise of being their God, and bringing them into the good land, in case of obedience; and by the time when it was made, when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, Jer 10:3-5, which order, the prophet agreeing to, is repeated, Jer 10:5,6 declaring the earnest protestation and exhortation of God to obey it, which they not observing, were threatened with the curses of it, Jer 11:7,8, the present Jews doing as their forefathers had done, breaking the covenant, particularly by their idolatry, are threatened also with punishment they should not escape, Jer 11:9-11 which is aggravated by a resolution to show no regard to their cries, Jer 11:11, by the impotence of their idols to save them, though so numerous, Jer 11:12,13, by forbidding the prophet to pray for them, Jer 11:14, by their having no longer a place and protection in the house of God, because of their wickedness, Jer 11:15, by comparing their former and present state together, having been as a beautiful and fruitful olive tree, but now burnt, and its branches broken, Jer 11:16, next follows an account of a design of the men of Anathoth against the prophet, to take away his life, which he was ignorant of, till the Lord gave him knowledge of it, Jer 11:17-19, when he imprecates vengeance on them, Jer 11:20, and, under a spirit of prophecy from the Lord, foretells their utter ruin and destruction, Jer 11:21,22.

Footnotes 21

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