Jeremiah 7

1 The word that has been to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Stand in the gate of the house of YHWH, and you have proclaimed this word there, and have said, Hear a word of YHWH, all you of Judah, who are coming in at these gates, to bow before YHWH.”

“Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.

3 Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: “Amend your ways, and your doings, And I cause you to dwell in this place.

Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.

4 Do not trust for yourselves To the words of falsehood, saying, The temple of YHWH! The temple of YHWH! These [are] the temple of YHWH!

Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

5 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, If you thoroughly do judgment Between a man and his neighbor,

For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,

6 You do not oppress sojourner, fatherless, and widow, And innocent blood is not shed in this place, And [you] do not walk after other gods, for evil to yourselves,

if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,

7 Then I have caused you to dwell in this place, In the land that I gave to your fathers, From age even to age.

then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

8 Behold, you are trusting for yourselves On the words of falsehood, so as not to profit.

But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.

9 Stealing, murdering, and committing adultery, And swearing to falsehood, and giving incense to Ba‘al, And going after other gods whom you did not know.

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

10 And you 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.

and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?

11 Has this house, On which My Name is called, Been a den of burglars in your eyes? Even I, behold, have seen,” A declaration of YHWH.

Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Yes, I too have seen it, declares the LORD.

12 “But go now to 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 wickedess of My people Israel.

But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.

13 And now, because of your doing all these works,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I speak to you, rising early and speaking, And you have not listened, And I call you, and you have not answered,

And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,

14 I also have done to the house on which My Name is called, In which you are trusting, And to the place that I gave to you, and to your fathers, As I have done to Shiloh.

therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.

15 And I have cast you from before My face, As I have cast out all your brothers, The whole seed of Ephraim.

And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.

16 And you do not pray for this people, Nor lift up crying and prayer for them, Nor intercede with Me, for I do not hear you.

As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.

17 Are you not seeing what they are doing In cities of Judah, and in streets of Jerusalem?

Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 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 drink-offerings to other gods, So as to provoke Me to anger.

The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.

19 Are they provoking Me to anger?” A declaration of YHWH, “Is it not themselves, For the shame of their own faces?”

But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?

20 Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: “Behold, My 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 has burned, and it is not quenched.”

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.

21 Thus said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: “Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.

This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

22 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,

For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,

23 But this thing I commanded them, saying, Listen to My voice, And I have been to you for God, And you are to Me for a people, And have walked in all the way that I command you, So that it is well for you.

but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.

24 And they have not listened, nor inclined their ear, And they walk in the counsels, [And] in the stubbornness, of their evil hearts, And are backward and not forward.

Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.

25 Even from the day when your fathers Went out of the land of Egypt until this day, I send all My servants the prophets to you, Daily rising early and sending,

From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.

26 And they have not listened to Me, Nor inclined their ear—and they harden their neck, They have done evil above their fathers.

Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

27 And you have spoken all these words to them, And they do not listen to you, And you have called to them, And they do not answer you.

When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer.

28 And you have said to them: This [is] the nation that has not listened, To the voice of its God YHWH, Nor have they accepted instruction, Steadfastness has perished, Indeed, it has been cut off from their mouth.

Therefore you must say to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their lips.

29 Cut off your crown, and cast [it] away, And lift up lamentation on high places, For YHWH has rejected, And He leaves the generation of His wrath.

Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’

30 For the sons of Judah Have done evil in My eyes,” A declaration of YHWH, “They have set their abominations in the house On which My Name is called—to defile it,

For the people of Judah have done evil in My sight, declares the LORD. They have set up their abominations in the house that bears My Name, and so have defiled it.

31 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.

They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.

32 Therefore, behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And it is no longer said, The Tophet, And, Valley of the Son of Hinnom, But, Valley of the Slaughter, And they have buried in Tophet—without place.

So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

33 And the carcass of this people has been for food To a bird of the heavens, and to a beast of the earth, And there is none troubling.

The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.

34 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 becomes a desolation!”

I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”