Jeremiah 7

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judea.

2 “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim this word there, and say, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.’”

3 The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Correct your ways and your devices, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

4 Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘The LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple, are these.’

Trust not in yourselves with lying words, for they shall not profit you at all, saying, It is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.

5 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

For if ye thoroughly correct your ways and your practices, and do indeed execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and do not walk after other gods to your own hurt,

and oppress not the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and go not after strange gods to your hurt:

7 then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more.

then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers of old and for ever.

8 Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit.

But whereas ye have trusted in lying words, whereby ye shall not be profited;

9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,

and ye murder, and commit adultery, and steal, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and are gone after strange gods whom ye know not,

10 then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered,’ that you may do all these abominations?

so that it is evil with you; yet have ye come, and stood before me in the house, whereon my name is called, and ye have said, We have refrained from 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,” says the LORD.

Is my house, whereon my name is called, a den of robbers in your eyes? And, behold, I have seen [it], saith the Lord.

12 “But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

For go ye to my place with is in Selo, where I caused my name to dwell before, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 Now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer;

And now, because ye have done all these deeds, and I spoke to you, but ye hearkened not to me; and I called you, but ye answered not;

14 therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

therefore I also will do to the house whereon my name is called, wherein ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Selo.

15 I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring of Ephraim.

And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast away your brethren, all the seed of Ephraim.

16 “Therefore do not pray for this people. Do not lift up a cry or prayer for them or make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

Therefore pray not thou for this people, and intercede not for them to be pitied, yea, pray not, and approach me not for them: for I will not hearken [unto thee].

17 Do not you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

Their children gather wood, and their fathers kindle a fire, and their women knead dough, to make cakes to the host of heaven; and they have poured out drink-offerings to strange gods, that they might provoke me to anger.

19 Do they provoke me to anger?” says the LORD. “Do not they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”

Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not [provoke] themselves, that their faces may be ashamed?

20 Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched.”

Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, my anger and wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and upon the men, and upon the cattle, and upon every tree of their field, and upon the fruits of the land; and it shall burn, and not be quenched.

21 The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat.

Thus saith the Lord, Gather your whole-burnt-offerings with your meat-offerings, and eat flesh.

22 For I did not speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices;

For I spoke not to your fathers, and commanded them not in the day wherein I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, concerning whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifice:

23 but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

but I commanded them this thing, saying, Hear ye my voice, and I will be to you a God, and ye shall be to me a people: and walk ye in all my ways which I shall command you, that it may be well with you.

24 But they did not listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

But they hearkened not to me, and their ear gave no heed, but they walked in the imaginations of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward;

25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.

from the day that their fathers went forth out of the land of Egypt, even until this day. And I sent to you all my servants, the prophets, by day and early in the morning: yea, I sent [them],

26 Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.

but they hearkened not to me, and their ear gave no heed; and they made their neck harder than their fathers.

27 “You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you.

Therefore thou shalt speak this word to them;

28 You shall tell them, ‘This is the nation that has not listened to the LORD their God’s voice, nor received instruction. Truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’

This is the nation which has not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, nor received correction: truth has failed from their mouth.

29 Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Cut off thine hair, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on thy lips; for the Lord has reprobated and rejected the generation that does these things.

30 “For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight,” says the LORD. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

For the children of Juda have wrought evil before me, saith the Lord; they have set their abominations in the house on which my name is called, to defile it.

31 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.

And they have built the altar of Tapheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons and their daughters with fire; which I did not command them [to do], neither did I design it in my heart.

32 Therefore behold, the days come”, says the LORD, “that 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 until there is no place to bury.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall no more say, The altar of Tapheth, and the valley of the son of Ennom, but, The valley of the slain; and they shall bury in Tapheth, for want of room.

33 The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away.

And the dead bodies of this people shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and there shall be none to drive [them] away.

34 Then I will 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 will become a waste.”

And I will destroy out of the cities of Juda, and the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of them that make merry, and the voice of them that rejoice, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; for the whole land shall become a desolation.