The Broken Covenant

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. ^dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 ^ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^fto 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, ^g“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^hHear 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, ⁱwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^dObey my voice. 8 ^jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

14 “Therefore ^rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 ^sWhat right has my beloved in my house, ^twhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^uCan you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you ^v‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^wwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^xits branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ^ywho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^zprovoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

1 What shall we say then? ^mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can ⁿwe who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us ^owho have been baptized ^pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were ^qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as ^rChrist was raised from the dead by ^sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^tnewness of life.

5 For ^uif we have been united with him in ^va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that ^wour old self^{1 x}was crucified with him in order that ^ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For ^zone who has died ^ahas been set free² from sin. 8 Now ^bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that ^cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ^ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, ^eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves ^fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

33 They answered him, ^f“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^geveryone who practices sin is a slave¹ to sin. 35 ^hThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ⁱthe son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet ^jyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 ^kI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard ^lfrom your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, ^m“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, ⁿ“If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now ^oyou seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth ^pthat I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, ^q“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have ^rone Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, ^s“If God were your Father, you would love me, for ^tI came from God and ^uI am here. ^vI came not of my own accord, but ^whe sent me. 43 ^xWhy do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ^ybear to hear my word. 44 ^zYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. ^aHe was a murderer from the beginning, and ^bdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. ^cWhen he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 ^dWhoever is of God hears the words of God. ^eThe reason why you do not hear them is that ^fyou are not of God.”