The Broken Covenant

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “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: ^wCursed 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, from the ^xiron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, 5 that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land ^yflowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

6 And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear 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, warning them ^zpersistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. 8 Yet ^athey did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

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

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

1 ^vWhat shall we say then? ^wAre we to continue in sin that ^xgrace may abound? 2 By no means! ^yHow can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been ^zbaptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were ^aburied therefore with him by baptism into death, ^bin order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in ^cnewness of life.

5 For if we have been ^dunited with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our ^eold self¹ was ^fcrucified with him in order that the ^gbody of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be ^henslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free² from sin. 8 Now ⁱif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being ^jraised from the dead, will ^knever die again; ^ldeath ^mno longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, ⁿonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves ^odead to sin and ^palive to God in Christ Jesus.

33 They answered him, “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, everyone who practices sin is a ^pslave¹ to sin. 35 ^qThe slave does not remain in the house forever; the 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 you ^rseek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from ^syour father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

39 They answered him, ^t“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. ^uThis is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. ^vWe have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, ^wyou would ^xlove me, for I came from God and I am here. ^yI came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of ^zyour father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a ^amurderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and ^bthe father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? ^cIf 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 you are not of God.”