1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
2. Speak to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
3. and say to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be anyone who does not observe the words of this covenant,
4. which I commanded your ancestors the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that iron furnace, saying: Listen to my voice and do all that I command you. Then you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
5. Thus I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the one you have today. “Amen, Lord,” I answered.
6. Then 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 obey them.
7. I warned your ancestors unceasingly from the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt even to this day: obey my voice.
8. But they did not listen or obey. They each walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, till I brought upon them all the threats of this covenant which they had failed to observe as I commanded them.
9. A conspiracy has been found, the Lord said to me, among the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
10. They have returned to the crimes of their ancestors who refused to obey my words. They also have followed and served other gods; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors.
11. Therefore, thus says the Lord: See, I am bringing upon them a disaster they cannot escape. Though they cry out to me, I will not listen to them.