Jeremiah 7

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying:

²Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim these words, and say:—Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, Who enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah!

³Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, And I will suffer you to dwell in this place!

⁴Trust ye not in lying words, when they say, "The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah are these."

⁵Yet if ye will thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, And dispense justice between man and man,

⁶If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, And shed not innocent blood in this place, And go not after other gods to your own hurt,

⁷Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, In the land which I gave to your fathers, For ever and ever.

⁸Behold, ye trust in lying words without profit.

⁹Ye steal, and murder, and commit adultery, And swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, And go after strange gods, which ye know not,

¹⁰And then come and stand before me in this house, Which is called by my name, And say, "We are delivered!" Whilst ye practise all these abominations.

¹¹Is this house, which is called by my name, Become a den for robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, saith Jehovah.

¹²But go now to my place, which was in Shiloh, Where I caused my name to dwell at the first, And see what I have done to it On account of the wickedness of my people Israel.

¹³And now because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, And I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, But ye hearkened not, And I have called to you, But ye answered not,

¹⁴Therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, In which ye place your confidence, And to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, As I have done to Shiloh.

¹⁵I will cast you out from my presence, As I have cast out all your brethren, The whole race of Ephraim.

¹⁶And as for thee, pray not for this people, Nor lift up a cry or a prayer for them, Nor make intercession to me for them; For I will not hear thee.

¹⁷Seest thou not what they do In the cities of Judah, and the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸The sons gather the wood, And the fathers kindle the fire, And the women knead dough, To make cakes for the queen of heaven, And to pour out libations to strange gods, That they may vex me.

¹⁹But do they vex me, saith Jehovah? Do they not rather vex themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

²⁰Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold my anger and my fury shall be poured out on this place, Upon man and upon beast; Upon the trees of the field, And upon the fruit of the ground; It shall burn and not be quenched.

²¹Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, And eat ye the flesh.

²²For I spake not to your fathers, nor commanded them Concerning burnt-offerings and sacrifices, At the time when I brought them out of the land of Egypt;

²³But this command gave I to them: "Hearken," said I, "to my voice, And I will be your God, And ye shall be my people. And walk ye in all the ways which I command you, That it may go well with you."

²⁴But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, But walked in the devices and obstinacy of their evil heart, Turning their backs and not their faces toward me.

²⁵From the day when your fathers came forth from the land of Egypt, Even to this day, I have also sent to you all my servants, the prophets, Daily rising early and sending.

²⁶But they have not hearkened to me, Nor have they inclined their ear; But they have hardened their neck, And acted more wickedly than their fathers.

²⁷And when thou shalt speak all these things to them, They will not hearken to thee; And when thou shalt call to them, They will make thee no answer.

²⁸Therefore shalt thou say to them, This is the nation that hearkeneth not to the voice of Jehovah their God, And taketh no correction; Truth hath failed, and is cut off from their mouth.

²⁹Cut off thy locks, O Jerusalem, and cast them away! Set up a lamentation upon the high place! For Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the children Against which his wrath hath been kindled.

³⁰For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith Jehovah, They have set their abominations in the house Which is called by my name, to pollute it.

³¹They 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 not, Which even came not into my mind.

³²Therefore behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, That it shall no more be called Tophet, Or the valley of the son of Hinnom, But the Valley of Slaughter; For they shall bury in Tophet till there be no room left.

³³And the dead bodies of this people shall be for meat To the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth; And none shall scare them away.

³⁴And 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 shall be desolate.

Jeremiah 7

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

²Stand 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.

³Thus 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.

⁴Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.

⁵For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

⁶If 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:

⁷Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

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

⁹Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

¹⁰And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

¹¹Is 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.

¹²But 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.

¹³And 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;

¹⁴Therefore 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.

¹⁵And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

¹⁶Therefore 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.

¹⁷Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁸The 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.

¹⁹Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

²⁰Therefore 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.

²¹Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

²²For 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:

²³But 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.

²⁴But 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.

²⁵Since 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:

²⁶Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

²⁷Therefore 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.

²⁸But 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.

²⁹Cut 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.

³⁰For 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.

³¹And 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.

³²Therefore, 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.

³³And 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.

³⁴Then 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.