Jeremiah 7
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
The word that came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh saying: —
2 Take your place in the doorway of the Lord's house, and give out this word there, and say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who come inside these doors to give worship to the Lord.
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:
3 The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says, Let your ways and your doings be changed for the better and I will let you go on living in this place.
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Amend your ways, and your doings, —That I may cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Put no faith in false words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, are these.
Do not, on your part trust in false words, saying, —The temple of Yahweh The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh they are!
5 For if your ways and your doings are truly changed for the better; if you truly give right decisions between a man and his neighbour;
But, if ye shall thoroughly amend, your ways, and your doings, —Shall thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;
6 If you are not cruel to the man from a strange country, and to the child without a father, and to the widow, and do not put the upright to death in this place, or go after other gods, causing damage to yourselves:
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,
7 Then I will let you go on living in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers in the past and for ever.
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,
8 See, you put your faith in false words which are of no profit.
Lo! ye, on your part, are trusting in false words, —To no profit!
9 Will you take the goods of others, put men to death, and be untrue to your wives, and take false oaths, and have perfumes burned to the Baal, and go after other gods which are strange to you;
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;
10 And come and take your place before me in this house, which is named by my name, and say, We have been made safe; so that you may do all these disgusting things?
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?
11 Has this house, which is named by my name, become a hole of thieves to you? Truly I, even I, have seen it, says the Lord.
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.
12 But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I put my name at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil-doing of my people Israel.
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!
13 And now, because you have done all these works, says the Lord, and I sent my word to you, getting up early and sending, but you did not give ear; and my voice came to you, but you gave no answer:
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,
14 For this reason I will do to the house which is named by my name, and in which you have put your faith, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
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;
15 And I will send you away from before my face, as I have sent away all your brothers, even all the seed of Ephraim.
And will cast you out from before me, —Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the seed of Ephraim.
16 And as for you (Jeremiah), make no prayers for this people, send up no cry or prayer for them, make no request for them to me: for I will not give ear.
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.
17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, —and In the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children go for wood, the fathers get the fire burning, the women are working the paste to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and drink offerings are drained out to other gods, moving me to wrath.
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!
19 Are they moving me to wrath? says the Lord; are they not moving themselves to their shame?
Is it me, they are provoking? Enquireth Yahweh, —Is it not themselves, —unto the shame of their own faces?
20 So this is what the Lord God has said: See, my wrath and my passion will be let loose on this place, on man and beast, and on the trees of the field, and on the produce of the earth; it will be burning and will not be put out.
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.
21 These are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: Put your burned offerings with your offerings of beasts, and take flesh for your food.
Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, —Your ascending-offerings, add ye unto your peace-offerings and eat ye flesh.
22 For I said nothing to your fathers, and gave them no orders, on the day when I took them out of Egypt, about burned offerings or offerings of beasts:
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;
23 But this was the order I gave them, saying, Give ear to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people: go in all the way ordered by me, so that all may be well for you.
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;
24 But they took no note and did not give ear, but were guided by the thoughts and the pride of their evil hearts, going back and not forward.
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.
25 From the day when your fathers came out of Egypt till this day, I have sent my servants the prophets to you, getting up early every day and sending them:
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;
26 But still they took no note and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff, doing worse than their fathers.
Yet they hearkened not unto me, Neither inclined their ear, —But stiffened their neck, They did more wickedly than their fathers.
27 And you are to say all these words to them, but they will not give ear to you: you will send out your voice to them, but they will give no answer.
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; —
28 And you are to say to them, This is the nation which has not given ear to the voice of their God, or taken his teaching to heart: good faith is dead and is cut off from their mouths.
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.
29 Let your hair be cut off, O Jerusalem, and let it go, and let a song of grief go up on the open hilltops; for the Lord is turned away from the generation of his wrath and has given them up.
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.
30 For the children of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes, says the Lord: they have put their disgusting images in the house which is named by my name, making it unclean.
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;
31 And they have put up the high place of Topheth in the valley of the son of Hinnom, burning their sons and their daughters there in the fire; a thing which was not ordered by me and never came into my mind.
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,
32 For this cause, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it will no longer be named Topheth, or, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of Death: for they will put the dead into the earth in Topheth till there is no more room.
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;
33 And the bodies of this people will be food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth; and there will be no one to send them away.
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.
34 And in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will put an end to the laughing voices, the voice of joy and the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride: for the land will become a waste.
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.
