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.”

9 Again the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have ^bgone after other gods to serve them. The 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. Though they cry to me, ^cI will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and ^dcry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 For your gods have become ^eas many as your cities, O Judah, ^fand as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

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.”

21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^oAnathoth, who seek your life, and say, ^p“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 Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”

The Coming of the Lord

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are ^sasleep, that you may not grieve as others do who ^thave no ^uhope. 14 For ^vsince we believe ^wthat Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,¹ that ^xwe who are alive, who are left until the ^ycoming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For ^zthe Lord himself will descend ^afrom heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the ^btrumpet of God. And ^cthe dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them ^din the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 ^eTherefore encourage one another with these words.

The Day of the Lord

1 Now concerning the ^ftimes and the seasons, brothers,^{2 g}you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come ^hlike a thief in the night. 3 While people are ⁱsaying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all ^jchildren³ of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us ^kkeep awake and ^lbe sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having ^mput on the ⁿbreastplate of ^ofaith and love, and for a ^phelmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God has not destined us for ^qwrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 ^rTherefore encourage one another and ^sbuild one another up, just as you are doing.