Jeremiah 7

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

This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 "Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

Go and stand in the entrance to the Lord's Temple, and deliver this message: Listen to what Lord has to say, all of you from Judah who are coming in through these gates to worship the Lord.

3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: Change your ways and do what's right, and I'll let you go on living here.

4 Do not trust in lying words, saying, "The LORD's temple, The LORD's temple, The LORD's temple, are these."

Don't believe in those who try and deceive you by repeating, “The Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here.”

5 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

If you sincerely change your ways and do what's right, if you treat each other fairly,

6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:

if you stop mistreating foreigners and orphans and widows, and if you stop murdering innocent people and stop hurting yourselves by worshiping,

7 then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forevermore.

then I'll let you go on living here in the country that I gave to your forefathers forever and ever.

8 Look, you trust in lying words, that can't profit.

But look at you! You go on believing in these deceptions, these worthless words.

9 Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known,

Are you really going to continue stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and lying, burning incense to Baal, and worshiping other gods that you know nothing about,

10 and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, "We are delivered"; that you may do all these abominations?

and then come and stand before me in my own Temple and say, “We're safe, so we can continue doing all these offensive things”?

11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it, says the LORD.

Do you see this house, my own Temple, as a den of thieves? Well, that's what it looks like to me too, declares the Lord.

12 But go now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

So why don't you go to Shiloh where I first made myself a place for me to live with you, and see what I did to it because of the evil my people Israel did?

13 Now, because you have done all these works, says the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer:

I've warned you time and again about all these things you've done but you've refused to listen, declares the Lord. I've called out to you but you didn't want to answer me.

14 therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

So now I'm going to do to my Temple, what I did to Shiloh. This is the Temple your put your faith in, the place I gave to you and your forefathers.

15 I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.

I will throw you out of my presence, just as I expelled all your Israelite relatives, all the descendants of Ephraim.

16 Therefore do not pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear you.

You, Jeremiah, are not to pray for these people. Don't cry out to me in prayer for them, don't plead with me on their behalf, because I won't listen to you.

17 Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

Can't you see how they're behaving in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

The children collect the firewood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry and hurt.

19 Do they provoke me to anger?" says the LORD. "Do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?"

But is it really me they're hurting? declares the Lord. Aren't they really hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves?

20 Therefore thus says the LORD: "Look, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched."

So this is what the Lord God says: Watch! My furious anger and will be poured out on this country, on people and animals, on the orchards and the crops in the field. It will burn and nobody will be able to put it out.

21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat meat.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You can add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat all the meat yourselves!

22 For I did not speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

When I led your forefathers out of Egypt I didn't just give them instructions about burnt offerings and sacrifices,

23 but this thing I commanded them, saying, 'Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'

This is the commandment I gave them: Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow everything I have commanded you to do, so that all will go well for you.

24 But they did not listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

But they refused to listen or pay attention. Instead they followed the desires of their own stubborn and evil thinking, so they ended up going backward and not forward.

25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, I have sent you time after time my servants the prophets.

26 yet they did not listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers."

But you refused to listen or pay them attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your forefathers!

27 "You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you.

When you tell them all this, they won't listen to you. When you call out to them, they won't answer.

28 You shall tell them, 'This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of the LORD their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

So you have to tell them, “This is the nation that refused to listen to what the Lord their God said, and would not accept the Lord's discipline. Truth has died out; people don't even talk about it.

29 Cut off your hair, and throw it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.'"

Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation who made him angry.”

30 "For the people of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight," says the LORD: "they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

For the people of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have placed their offensive idols in my own Temple, making it unclean.

31 They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.

They have built pagan shrines at Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could sacrifice their sons and daughters by burning them in the fire. This is something I never commanded. I never even thought of such a thing!

32 Therefore look, the days come," says the LORD, "that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The Valley of Ben Hinnom, but The Valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.

So watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when instead of Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom this place will be called the Valley of Killing. People will bury their dead in Topheth until it's full.

33 The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

The dead bodies of these people will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare them away.

34 Then 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 become a waste."

I will put a stop to the cheerful sounds of celebration and the happy voices of the bride and bridegroom from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the country will be turned into a wasteland.