Jeremiah 7
Evil in the Land
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2 "Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord.3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.'
5 "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm,7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
8 "Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'—only to go on doing all these abominations?11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord.12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.
16 "As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.19 Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own shame?20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched."
21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.23 But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'24 But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day.26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
27 "So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.28 And you shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.
29
"'Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on the bare heights,
for the Lord has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.'
The Valley of Slaughter
30 "For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it.31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere.33 And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.34 And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.
Jeremiah 7
Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment
1 The Lord said to Jeremiah:t2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s temple and proclaimt this message: ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who have passed through these gates to worship the Lord.s Hear what the Lord has to say.3 The Lord God of Israel who rules over allts says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.t If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.t4 Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says,t “We are safe!t The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!”t5 You must changet the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.t6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.t Stop killing innocent peoplet in this land. Stop paying allegiance tot other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.t
7 If you stop doing these things,t I will allow you to continue to live in this landt which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.t
8 “‘But just look at you!t You are putting your confidence in a false belieft that will not deliver you.t9 You steal.t You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance tot other gods whom you have not previously known.10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my ownt and say, “We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!t11 Do you think this temple I have claimed as my ownt is to be a hideout for robbers?t You had better take note!t I have seen for myself what you have done! says the Lord.12 So, go to the place in Shiloh where I allowed myself to be worshipedt in the early days. See what I did to its because of the wicked things my people Israel did.13 You also have done all these things, says the Lord, and I have spoken to you over and over again.t But you have not listened! You have refused to respond when I called you to repent!t14 So I will destroy this temple which I have claimed as my own,t this temple that you are trusting to protect you. I will destroy this place that I gave to you and your ancestors,t just like I destroyed Shiloh.t
15 And I will drive you out of my sight just like I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel.’”t
16 Then the Lord said,t “As for you, Jeremiah,t do not pray for these people! Do not cry out to me or petition me on their behalf! Do not plead with me to save them,t because I will not listen to you.17 Do you seet what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?s18 Children are gathering firewood, fathers are building fires with it, and women are mixing dough to bake cakes to offer to the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven.ts They are also pouring out drink offerings to other gods. They seem to do all this justt to trouble me.19 But I am not really the one being troubled!”t says the Lord. “Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!t
20 So,” the Lord Godt says, “my raging fury will be poured out on this land.t It will be poured out on human beings and animals, on trees and crops.t And it will burn like a fire which cannot be extinguished.”
21 The Lord said to the people of Judah,t “The Lord God of Israel who rules over allts says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too!tss22 Consider this:t When I spoke to your ancestors after I brought them out of Egypt, I did not merely give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.23 I also explicitly commanded them:t “Obey me. If you do, It will be your God and you will be my people. Live exactly the way I tell yout and things will go well with you.”24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better.t25 From the time your ancestors departed the land of Egypt until now,t I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again,t day after day.s
26 But your ancestorst did not listen to me nor pay attention to me. They became obstinatet and were more wicked than even their own forefathers.’”
27 Then the Lord said to me,t “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not respond to you.28 So tell them: ‘This is a nation that has not obeyed the Lord their God and has not accepted correction. Faithfulness is nowhere to be found in it. These people do not even profess it anymore.ts
29 So, mourn,ts you people of this nation.t Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the hilltops. For the Lord has decided to rejectt and forsake this generation that has provoked his wrath!’”t
30 The Lord says, “I have rejected them becauset the people of Judah have done what I consider evil.t They have set up their disgusting idols in the temples which I have claimed for my ownt and have defiled it.31 They have also built places of worshipts in a place called Tophethts in the Valley of Ben Hinnom so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire. That is something I never commanded them to do! Indeed, it never even entered my mind to command such a thing!t32 So, watch out!”t says the Lord. “The time will soon come when people will no longer call those places Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom. But they will call that valleyt the Valley of Slaughter and they will bury so many people in Topheth they will run out of room.t33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat.t There will not be any survivors to scare them away.
34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”
