7 The Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 2 ‘Stand at the gate of the Lord 's temple and speak this message. Say, “Listen to the Lord 's message, all you people of Judah. You come through this gate to worship the Lord . 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says: Change the way that you live. Do things that are right. If you change, I will let you continue to live here. 4 People may say, ‘We are safe here! This is the temple of the Lord . It is the temple of the Lord !’ But the people who say that are deceiving you. Do not trust them. 5 You must change the way that you have been living. You must do what is right. Be fair to each other. 6 Do not be cruel to foreigners who are living among you. Do not be cruel to widows, or to children who have no family. You must stop murdering people. You must stop worshipping other gods. If you live like that, it will destroy you. 7 If you change how you live, I will let you live in this place. It is the land that I gave to your ancestors, to be their home for ever.
8 But look at how you live now! You believe in lies that cannot save you. 9 You rob people. You murder people. You have sex with someone else's wife or husband. You tell lies in court when you have promised to tell the truth. You offer sacrifices to the false god, Baal. You serve other gods that you never knew before. 10 You do that and then you come to meet me here, in my own house! You say, ‘We are safe!’ 11 This is my temple! It is not a place where robbers can hide and be safe. Listen to me! I have seen the things that you have done.” That is what the Lord says.
12 “Go to Shiloh, and see what I did there. It was the first place that I chose where people would worship me. But I destroyed it because of the wicked things that my people, the Israelites, did. 13 You have done the same wicked things. I have warned you many times, but you have not listened to me. I called out to you, but you refused to answer.” That is what the Lord says.
14 “So now I will destroy this temple that I chose to be my home. I gave this temple to you and to your ancestors. You think that it will keep you safe. But I will destroy it, as I destroyed Shiloh. 15 I will send you far away from me. I already did that to the other Israelites, the people of Ephraim's tribe.” [ a ]
16 Jeremiah, you must not pray for this people. Do not ask me to help them. If you ask me to save them, I will not listen to you. 17 You can see what they are doing in Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judah. 18 The children fetch wood and their fathers use it to light a fire. The women prepare flour to cook cakes. Then they offer them to the “Queen of Heaven”. And they offer gifts of drink to other false gods. They do that to make me angry. 19 But they are not hurting me. They are hurting themselves, and they will be ashamed.’ That is what the Lord says.
20 The Lord God says, ‘Because I am so angry, I will punish this land very much. It will be like a fire that nobody can stop. My punishment will destroy people, animals, trees and crops.’
21 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this to Judah's people: ‘You should eat the meat from your burnt offerings, as well as your other sacrifices. You are not offering them to me! [ b ] 22 Remember this: I brought your ancestors safely out of Egypt. Then I gave them my commands. Those commands were not only about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I also told them, “Obey me. Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. You must live in the way that I have commanded you. If you do that, you will enjoy your lives.” 24 But your ancestors refused to obey me. They did anything that their wicked thoughts made them want to do. They refused to return to me. Instead, they went further away. 25 Since the time that your ancestors left Egypt, I have sent my servants, the prophets to speak to you. I have continued to do that many times, even until now. 26 But my people did not listen to me. They have refused to obey me. They have continued to do evil things, even worse than their ancestors did.’
27 The Lord said to me, ‘Jeremiah, you must speak my message to them. But they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer. 28 So you must tell them, “The people of this nation have not obeyed the Lord their God. When I warned them, they have not agreed to change. Nobody does what is right. Nobody even speaks about what is true. 29 Now show that you are upset. Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go to the tops of the hills and sing sad songs about death. Realize that today's people have made the Lord very angry. So he has decided to turn away from them and leave them.” ’
30 The Lord says, ‘The people of Judah have done things that I see are evil. They have put their disgusting idols in my temple. That is the place that I chose to be my special home, and they have made it unclean. 31 They have built altars in Topheth, in Ben-Hinnom Valley. On those altars, they light fires to burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices. I never commanded them to do that. I never even thought about it. 32 So listen to me! The time will soon come when people no longer call those places Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley. Instead, they will call it Death Valley. They will bury lots of dead people there. There will be no space left to bury any more people! 33 Then the bodies of dead people will lie on the ground. Birds and animals will come and eat them. There will be nobody to chase them away. 34 Jerusalem and all of Judah will become like a desert where nobody lives. There will be no noise of happy people. There will be no happy songs or marriage parties. The whole land will be quiet.’
7 This is the Lord ’s message to Jeremiah: 2 “Jeremiah, stand at the gate of the Lord ’s house. Teach this message at the gate:
“‘Hear the message from the Lord , all you people of the nation of Judah. All you who come through these gates to worship the Lord , hear this message. 3 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Change your lives and do good things. If you do this, I will let you live in this place. [ a ] 4 Don’t trust the lies that some people say. They say, “This is the Temple of the Lord , the Temple of the Lord , the Temple of the Lord ! [ b ] ” 5 If you change your lives and do good things, I will let you live in this place. You must be fair to each other. 6 You must be fair to strangers. You must help widows and orphans. Don’t kill innocent people! And don’t follow other gods, because they will only ruin your lives. 7 If you obey me, I will let you live in this place. I gave this land to your ancestors for them to keep forever.
8 “‘But you are trusting lies that are worthless. 9 Will you steal and murder? Will you commit adultery? Will you falsely accuse other people? Will you worship the false god Baal and follow other gods that you have not known? 10 If you commit these sins, do you think that you can stand before me in this house that is called by my name? Do you think you can stand before me and say, “We are safe,” just so you can do all these terrible things? 11 This Temple is called by my name. Is this Temple nothing more to you than a hideout for robbers? I have been watching you.’” This message is from the Lord .
12 “‘You people of Judah, go now to the town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first made a house for my name. The people of Israel also did evil things. Go and see what I did to that place because of the evil they did. [ c ] 13 You people of Israel were doing all these evil things. This message is from the Lord ! I spoke to you again and again, but you refused to listen to me. I called to you, but you did not answer. 14 So I will destroy the house called by my name in Jerusalem. I will destroy that Temple as I destroyed Shiloh. And that house in Jerusalem that is called by my name is the Temple you trust in. I gave that place to you and to your ancestors. 15 I will throw you away from me just as I threw away all your brothers from Ephraim.’
16 “As for you, Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people of Judah. Don’t beg for them or pray for them. Don’t beg me to help them. I will not listen to your prayer for them. 17 I know you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah. You can see what they are doing in the streets of the city of Jerusalem. 18 This is what the people of Judah are doing: The children gather wood. The fathers use the wood to make a fire. The women make the dough and then make cakes of bread to offer to the Queen of Heaven. The people of Judah pour out drink offerings to worship other gods. They do this to make me angry. 19 But I am not the one they are really hurting.” This message is from the Lord . “They are only hurting themselves. They are bringing shame on themselves.”
20 So this is what the Lord God says: “I will show my anger against this place. I will punish people and animals. I will punish the trees in the field and the crops that grow in the ground. My anger will be like a hot fire—no one will be able to stop it.”
21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Go and offer as many burnt offerings and sacrifices as you want. Eat the meat of those sacrifices yourselves. 22 I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. I spoke to them, but I did not give them any commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I only gave them this command: ‘Obey me and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do all that I command, and good things will happen to you.’
24 “But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not pay attention to me. They were stubborn and did what they wanted to do. They did not become good. They became even more evil—they went backward, not forward. 25 From the day that your ancestors left Egypt to this day, I have sent my servants to you. My servants are the prophets. I sent them to you again and again. 26 But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not pay attention to me. They were very stubborn and did evil even worse than their fathers did.
27 “Jeremiah, you will tell these things to the people of Judah. But they will not listen to you. You call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 So you must tell them these things: ‘This is the nation that did not obey the Lord its God. These people did not listen to God’s teachings. They don’t know the true teachings.’
29 “Jeremiah, cut off your hair and throw it away. [ d ] Go up to the bare hilltop and cry, because the Lord has rejected this generation of people. He has turned his back on these people. And in anger he will punish them. 30 Do this because I have seen the people of Judah doing evil things.” This message is from the Lord . “They have set up their idols, and I hate those idols. They have set up idols in the Temple that is called by my name. They have made my house ‘dirty’! 31 The people of Judah built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom where they killed their own sons and daughters and burned them as sacrifices. This is something I never commanded. Something like this never even entered my mind! 32 So I warn you. The days are coming,” says the Lord , “when people will not call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom anymore. No, they will call it the Valley of Slaughter. They will give it this name because they will bury the dead people in Topheth until there is no more room to bury anyone else. 33 Then the bodies of the dead people will become food for the birds of the sky. Wild animals will eat the bodies of those people. There will be no one left alive to chase the birds or animals away. 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. There will be no more sounds of the bride and bridegroom in Judah or Jerusalem. The land will become an empty desert.”
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the Lord 's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord , all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord .
3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord , The temple of the Lord , The temple of the Lord , are these.
5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord .
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord , and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord : do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord : they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord , that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from 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 be desolate.
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying, 2 “ ( A ) Stand at the gate of the Lord ’ s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord , all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord !’” 3 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “ ( B ) Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. 4 ( C ) Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘ [ a ] This is the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord .’ 5 For ( D ) if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ( E ) practice justice between a person and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the [ b ] ( F ) orphan, or the widow, and do not shed ( G ) innocent blood in this place, nor ( H ) follow other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you ( I ) live in this place, in the ( J ) land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in ( K ) deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, [ c ] ( L ) offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow ( M ) other gods that you have not known, 10 then ( N ) come and stand before Me in ( O ) this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may do all these abominations? 11 Has ( P ) this house, which is called by My name, become a ( Q ) den of robbers in your sight? Behold, ( R ) I Myself have seen it ,” declares the Lord .
12 “But go now to My place which was in ( S ) Shiloh, where I ( T ) made My name dwell at the beginning, and ( U ) see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord , “and I spoke to you, ( V ) speaking again and again, but you did not listen, and I ( W ) called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the ( X ) house which is called by My name, ( Y ) in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I ( Z ) did to Shiloh. 15 I will ( AA ) hurl you out of My sight, just as I have hurled out all your brothers, all the [ d ] descendants of ( AB ) Ephraim.
16 “As for you, ( AC ) do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not plead with Me; for I am not listening to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The [ e ] children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven; and they ( AD ) pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to ( AE ) provoke Me to anger. 19 ( AF ) Are they provoking Me?” declares the Lord . “Is it not themselves instead , to their [ f ] own ( AG ) shame?” 20 Therefore this is what the Lord [ g ] God says: “Behold, My ( AH ) anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on human and animal life , and on the ( AI ) trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your ( AJ ) burnt offerings to your sacrifices and ( AK ) eat flesh. 22 For I did not ( AL ) speak to your fathers, or command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [ h ] what I commanded them, saying, ‘ ( AM ) Obey My voice, and ( AN ) I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk [ i ] entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may ( AO ) go well for you.’ 24 Yet they ( AP ) did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they [ j ] ( AQ ) went backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have ( AR ) sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, again and again. 26 Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but ( AS ) stiffened their neck; they ( AT ) did more evil than their fathers.
27 “So you shall ( AU ) speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will ( AV ) not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that ( AW ) did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept discipline; [ k ] ( AX ) trustworthiness has perished and has been eliminated from their mouth.
29 ( AY ) Cut off [ l ] your hair and throw it away,
And ( AZ ) take up a song of mourning on the bare heights;
For the Lord has ( BA ) rejected and forsaken
The generation of His wrath.’
30 For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord . “They have ( BB ) put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 They have ( BC ) built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to ( BD ) burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I ( BE ) did not command, and it did not come into My [ m ] mind.
32 “ ( BF ) Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord , “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter; for they will ( BG ) bury in Topheth [ n ] because there is no other place. 33 The ( BH ) dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth; and no one will frighten them away . 34 Then I will ( BI ) eliminate from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride; for the ( BJ ) land will become a site of ruins.
7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord : 2 “Stand ( A ) at the gate of the Lord ’s house and there proclaim this message:
“‘Hear the word of the Lord , all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord . 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways ( B ) and your actions, and I will let you live ( C ) in this place. 4 Do not trust ( D ) in deceptive ( E ) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord , the temple of the Lord !” 5 If you really change ( F ) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, ( G ) 6 if you do not oppress ( H ) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood ( I ) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods ( J ) to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land ( K ) I gave your ancestors ( L ) for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting ( M ) in deceptive ( N ) words that are worthless.
9 “‘Will you steal ( O ) and murder, ( P ) commit adultery ( Q ) and perjury, [ a ] ( R ) burn incense to Baal ( S ) and follow other gods ( T ) you have not known, 10 and then come and stand ( U ) before me in this house, ( V ) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? ( W ) 11 Has this house, ( X ) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers ( Y ) to you? But I have been watching! ( Z ) declares the Lord .
12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh ( AA ) where I first made a dwelling ( AB ) for my Name, ( AC ) and see what I did ( AD ) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord , I spoke ( AE ) to you again and again, ( AF ) but you did not listen; ( AG ) I called ( AH ) you, but you did not answer. ( AI ) 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh ( AJ ) I will now do to the house that bears my Name, ( AK ) the temple ( AL ) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence, ( AM ) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’ ( AN )
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea ( AO ) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen ( AP ) to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. ( AQ ) They pour out drink offerings ( AR ) to other gods to arouse ( AS ) my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? ( AT ) declares the Lord . Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame? ( AU )
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign ( AV ) Lord says: My anger ( AW ) and my wrath will be poured ( AX ) out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched. ( AY )
21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices ( AZ ) and eat ( BA ) the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands ( BB ) about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ( BC ) 23 but I gave them this command: ( BD ) Obey ( BE ) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. ( BF ) Walk in obedience to all ( BG ) I command you, that it may go well ( BH ) with you. 24 But they did not listen ( BI ) or pay attention; ( BJ ) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. ( BK ) They went backward ( BL ) and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again ( BM ) I sent you my servants ( BN ) the prophets. ( BO ) 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. ( BP ) They were stiff-necked ( BQ ) and did more evil than their ancestors.’ ( BR )
27 “When you tell ( BS ) them all this, they will not listen ( BT ) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. ( BU ) 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. ( BV ) Truth ( BW ) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29 “‘Cut off ( BX ) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament ( BY ) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned ( BZ ) this generation that is under his wrath.
30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil ( CA ) in my eyes, declares the Lord . They have set up their detestable idols ( CB ) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled ( CC ) it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth ( CD ) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom ( CE ) to burn their sons and daughters ( CF ) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. ( CG ) 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord , when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, ( CH ) for they will bury ( CI ) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses ( CJ ) of this people will become food ( CK ) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. ( CL ) 34 I will bring an end to the sounds ( CM ) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom ( CN ) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, ( CO ) for the land will become desolate. ( CP )
