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.”

9 Again the Lord said to me, ^l“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to ^mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. ⁿThe 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. ^oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 ^pFor 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, ^qaltars to make offerings to Baal.

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.”

21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^hAnathoth, ⁱwho seek your life, and say, ^j“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 ^kAnathoth, ^lthe year of their punishment.”

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, ^gthat you may not grieve as others do ^hwho have no hope. 14 For ⁱsince we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him ^jthose who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you ^kby a word from the Lord,¹ that ^lwe who are alive, who are left until ^mthe coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For ⁿthe Lord himself will descend ^ofrom heaven ^pwith a cry of command, with the voice of ^qan archangel, and ^rwith the sound of the trumpet of God. And ^sthe dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be ^tcaught up together with them ^uin the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so ^vwe will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

The Day of the Lord

1 Now concerning ^wthe times and the seasons, brothers,^{2 x}you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that ^ythe day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then ^zsudden destruction will come upon them ^aas labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you ^bare not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all ^cchildren³ of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then ^dlet us not sleep, as others do, but let us ^ekeep awake and ^fbe sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, ^gare drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, ^hhaving put on the breastplate of ⁱfaith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for ^jwrath, but ^kto obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 ^lwho died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.