Jeremiah 7

1 The word that came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh saying: —

This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 Stand thou in the gate of the house of Yahweh, and thou shalt proclaim there this word, —and shalt say—Hear ye the word of Yahweh all Judah ye who are entering in at these gates, to bow down unto Yahweh:

Go and stand in the entrance to the Lord's Temple, and deliver this message: Listen to what Lord has to say, all of you from Judah who are coming in through these gates to worship the Lord.

3 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Amend your ways, and your doings, —That I may cause you to dwell in this place.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: Change your ways and do what's right, and I'll let you go on living here.

4 Do not, on your part trust in false words, saying, —The temple of Yahweh The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh they are!

Don't believe in those who try and deceive you by repeating, “The Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here.”

5 But, if ye shall thoroughly amend, your ways, and your doings, —Shall thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;

If you sincerely change your ways and do what's right, if you treat each other fairly,

6 The sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, shall not oppress, And innocent blood, shall not shed in this place, —And after other gods, shall not walk to your own hurt,

if you stop mistreating foreigners and orphans and widows, and if you stop murdering innocent people and stop hurting yourselves by worshiping,

7 Then will I cause you to dwell In this place, In the land which I gave to your fathers, —From one age even unto another,

then I'll let you go on living here in the country that I gave to your forefathers forever and ever.

8 Lo! ye, on your part, are trusting in false words, —To no profit!

But look at you! You go on believing in these deceptions, these worthless words.

9 Are ye to steal, commit murder and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, —and walk after other gods whom ye have not known;

Are you really going to continue stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and lying, burning incense to Baal, and worshiping other gods that you know nothing about,

10 And will ye then come in and stand before me in this house whereon my Name hath been called, and say, —We have set ourselves free, —for the purpose of committing all these abominations?

and then come and stand before me in my own Temple and say, “We're safe, so we can continue doing all these offensive things”?

11 A den of robbers, hath this house on which my Name hath been called become in your own eyes? I, also, —lo! I have seen it Declareth Yahweh.

Do you see this house, my own Temple, as a den of thieves? Well, that's what it looks like to me too, declares the Lord.

12 For go I pray you, unto my place which was in Shiloh, Where I made my Name to dwell, at first, —And see what I did to it, because of the wickedness of my people Israel!

So why don't you go to Shiloh where I first made myself a place for me to live with you, and see what I did to it because of the evil my people Israel did?

13 Now, therefore—Because ye have done all these deeds Declareth Yahweh, —And though I spake unto you betimes speaking, Yet ye hearkened not, And though I cried unto you Yet ye answered not,

I've warned you time and again about all these things you've done but you've refused to listen, declares the Lord. I've called out to you but you didn't want to answer me.

14 Therefore will I do to the house Whereon my Name hath been called Wherein, ye, are trusting, Even to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, —Just as I did unto Shiloh;

So now I'm going to do to my Temple, what I did to Shiloh. This is the Temple your put your faith in, the place I gave to you and your forefathers.

15 And will cast you out from before me, —Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the seed of Ephraim.

I will throw you out of my presence, just as I expelled all your Israelite relatives, all the descendants of Ephraim.

16 Thou, therefore—Do not pray for this people Neither lift up for them cry or prayer Neither intercede with me, —For I am not going to hear thee.

You, Jeremiah, are not to pray for these people. Don't cry out to me in prayer for them, don't plead with me on their behalf, because I won't listen to you.

17 Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, —and In the streets of Jerusalem?

Can't you see how they're behaving in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The children, gather wood, and The fathers, kindle the fire, and The women, knead dough, —To make sacrificial cakes to the queen of the heavens, And to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, Provoking me to anger!

The children collect the firewood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry and hurt.

19 Is it me, they are provoking? Enquireth Yahweh, —Is it not themselves, —unto the shame of their own faces?

But is it really me they're hurting? declares the Lord. Aren't they really hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves?

20 Wherefore, Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh—Lo! mine anger and mine indignation, are about to be poured out upon this place, On man and on beast, and On the tree of the field and On the fruit of the ground, —And it shall burn and shall not be quenched.

So this is what the Lord God says: Watch! My furious anger and will be poured out on this country, on people and animals, on the orchards and the crops in the field. It will burn and nobody will be able to put it out.

21 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, —Your ascending-offerings, add ye unto your peace-offerings and eat ye flesh.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You can add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat all the meat yourselves!

22 For I bade not your fathers Neither commanded I them, In the day I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, —Concerning the matter of ascending-offering and peace-offering;

When I led your forefathers out of Egypt I didn't just give them instructions about burnt offerings and sacrifices,

23 But, this thing, I commanded them—saying, Hearken ye unto my voice, So will I become unto you—a God, And, ye, shall become unto me—a people, —Ye shall therefore walk in all the way that I may command you, To the end it may be well with you;

This is the commandment I gave them: Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow everything I have commanded you to do, so that all will go well for you.

24 Yet they hearkened not Neither inclined their ear, But walked, In the counsels—In the stubbornness of their own wicked heart; And went backward, and not forward.

But they refused to listen or pay attention. Instead they followed the desires of their own stubborn and evil thinking, so they ended up going backward and not forward.

25 Ever since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt, until this day, Have I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, Daily, betimes, sending them;

From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, I have sent you time after time my servants the prophets.

26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, Neither inclined their ear, —But stiffened their neck, They did more wickedly than their fathers.

But you refused to listen or pay them attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your forefathers!

27 Therefore shalt thou speak unto them all these words, Though they do not hearken unto thee, —And thou shalt cry aloud unto them Though they do not answer thee; —

When you tell them all this, they won't listen to you. When you call out to them, they won't answer.

28 But thou shalt say unto them, —This, is the nation that hearkened not unto the voice of Yahweh its God, Neither accepted they correction, —Perished is fidelity, And is cut off out of their mouth.

So you have to tell them, “This is the nation that refused to listen to what the Lord their God said, and would not accept the Lord's discipline. Truth has died out; people don't even talk about it.

29 Cut thou off thy crown of hair [O Jerusalem], and cast it away, And lift thou up on the bare heights, a dirge, —For Yahweh hath rejected and cast out the generation with which he was wroth.

Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation who made him angry.”

30 For the sons of Judah, have done, that which was wicked in mine eyes, Declareth Yahweh, —They have set their abominations in the house whereon my Name hath been called to defile it;

For the people of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have placed their offensive idols in my own Temple, making it unclean.

31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn up their sons and their daughters in the fire, —Which I commanded not, Neither came it up on my heart,

They have built pagan shrines at Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could sacrifice their sons and daughters by burning them in the fire. This is something I never commanded. I never even thought of such a thing!

32 Therefore, lo! days are coming, Declareth Yahweh, When it shall not be called any more—The Topheth, nor The valley of Ben-hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter, —And they shall bury in Topheth, for want of place;

So watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when instead of Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom this place will be called the Valley of Killing. People will bury their dead in Topheth until it's full.

33 And the dead bodies of this people shall become food, For the bird of the heavens, and For the beast of the earth, —And there shall be none to drive them away.

The dead bodies of these people will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare them away.

34 So will I cause to cease, From the cities of Judah, and, From the streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, The voice of the bridegroom, and The voice of the bride, —For, a desolation, shall the land become.

I will put a stop to the cheerful sounds of celebration and the happy voices of the bride and bridegroom from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the country will be turned into a wasteland.