< Jeremias 7 >

1 Hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judea.
The word that hath been unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
2
Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and thou hast proclaimed there this word, and hast said, Hear a word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, who are coming in at these gates, to bow before Jehovah:
3 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Correct your ways and your devices, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Amend your ways, and your doings, And I cause you to dwell in this place.
4 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.
Do not trust for yourselves Unto the words of falsehood, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, The temple of Jehovah [are] they!
5 For if ye thoroughly correct your ways and your practices, and do indeed execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
For, if ye do thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, If ye do judgment thoroughly Between a man and his neighbour,
6 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:
Sojourner, fatherless, and widow, ye oppress not, And innocent blood do not shed in this place, And after other gods do not walk, for evil to yourselves,
7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers of old and for ever.
Then I have caused you to dwell in this place, In the land that I gave to your fathers, From age even unto age.
8 But whereas ye have trusted in lying words, whereby ye shall not be profited;
Lo, ye are trusting for yourselves On the words of falsehood, so as not to profit.
9 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,
Stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, And swearing to falsehood, and giving perfume to Baal, And going after other gods whom ye knew not.
10 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.
And ye have come in and stood before Me, In this house on which My name is called, And have said, 'We have been delivered,' In order to do all these abominations.
11 Is my house, whereon my name is called, a den of robbers in your eyes? And, behold, I have seen [it], saith the Lord.
A den of burglars hath this house, On which My name is called, been in your eyes? Even I, lo, I have seen, an affirmation of Jehovah.
12 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.
But go ye, I pray you, Unto My place that [is] in Shiloh, Where I caused My name to dwell at first, And see that which I have done to it, For the wickedness of My people Israel.
13 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;
And now, because of your doing all these works, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, And ye have not hearkened, And I call you, and ye have not answered,
14 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.
I also to the house on which My name is called, In which ye are trusting, And to the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, Have done, as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast away your brethren, all the seed of Ephraim.
And I have cast you from before My face, As I have cast out all your brethren, The whole seed of Ephraim.
16 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].
And thou dost not pray for this people, Nor lift up for them crying and prayer, Nor intercede with Me, for I hear thee not.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Art thou not seeing what they are doing In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem?
18 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.
The sons are gathering wood, And the fathers are causing the fire to burn, And the women are kneading dough, To make cakes to the queen of the heavens, And to pour out libations to other gods, So as to provoke Me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not [provoke] themselves, that their faces may be ashamed?
Me are they provoking to anger? an affirmation of Jehovah, Is it not themselves, For the shame of their own faces?
20 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.
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, Lo, Mine anger and My fury is poured out on this place, On man, and beast, and on tree of the field, And on fruit of the ground, And it hath burned, and it is not quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord, Gather your whole-burnt-offerings with your meat-offerings, and eat flesh.
Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Your burnt-offerings add to your sacrifices, And eat ye flesh.
22 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:
For I did not speak with your fathers, Nor did I command them in the day of My bringing them out of the land of Egypt, Concerning the matters of burnt-offering and sacrifice,
23 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.
But this thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to My voice, And I have been to you for God, And ye — ye are to Me for a people, And have walked in all the way that I command you, So that it is well for you.
24 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;
And they have not hearkened, nor inclined their ear, And they walk in the counsels, In the stubbornness, of their evil heart, And are for backward, and not for forward.
25 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],
Even from the day when your fathers Went out of the land of Egypt till this day, I send to you all my servants the prophets, Daily rising early and sending,
26 but they hearkened not to me, and their ear gave no heed; and they made their neck harder than their fathers.
And they have not hearkened unto Me, Nor inclined their ear, and harden their neck, They have done evil above their fathers.
27 Therefore thou shalt speak this word to them;
And thou hast spoken unto them all these words, And they do not hearken to thee, And thou hast called unto them, And they do not answer thee.
28 This is the nation which has not hearkened to the voice of the Lord, nor received correction: truth has failed from their mouth.
And thou hast said unto them: This [is] the nation that hath not hearkened, To the voice of Jehovah its God, Nor have they accepted instruction, Perished hath stedfastness, Yea, it hath been cut off from their mouth.
29 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.
Cut off thy crown, and cast [it] away, And lift up on high places lamentation, For Jehovah hath rejected, And He leaveth the generation of His wrath.
30 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.
For the sons of Judah Have done the evil thing in Mine eyes, An affirmation of Jehovah, They have set their abominations in the house On which My name is called — to defile it,
31 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.
And have built the high places of Tophet, That [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, To burn their sons and their daughters with fire, Which I did not command, Nor did it come up on My heart.
32 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.
Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it is not said any more, 'The Tophet,' And 'Valley of the son of Hinnom,' But 'Valley of the slaughter,' And they have buried in Tophet — without place.
33 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.
And the carcase of this people hath been for food To a fowl of the heavens, and to a beast of the earth, And there is none troubling.
34 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.
And I have caused to cease from cities of Judah, And from streets of Jerusalem, The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, Voice of bridegroom, and voice of bride, For the land doth become a desolation!

< Jeremias 7 >