Jeremiah 7

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

The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, 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 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!

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

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

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

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

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 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,

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

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

Behold, ye trust in lying words without profit.

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.

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

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 is called by my name, And say, “We are delivered!” Whilst ye practise 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.

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

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 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.

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 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,

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 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.

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

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

And 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.

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

Seest thou not what they do In the cities of Judah, and 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 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.

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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 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;

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 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.”

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.

But 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.

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 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.

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

But 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.

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.

And 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

Therefore 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.

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.

And 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.

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!”

And 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.