Jeremiah 7

1 The word that came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh saying: —

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

2 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:

“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.”

3 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, Amend your ways, and your doings, —That I may cause you to dwell in this place.

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

4 Do not, on your part trust in false words, saying, —The temple of Yahweh The temple of Yahweh, The temple of Yahweh they are!

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!

5 But, if ye shall thoroughly amend, your ways, and your doings, —Shall thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;

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

6 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,

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,

7 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,

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

8 Lo! ye, on your part, are trusting in false words, —To no profit!

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

9 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;

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.

10 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?

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.

11 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.

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.

12 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!

“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.

13 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,

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,

14 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;

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.

15 And will cast you out from before me, —Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the seed of Ephraim.

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

16 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.

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.

17 Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, —and In the streets of Jerusalem?

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

18 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!

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.

19 Is it me, they are provoking? Enquireth Yahweh, —Is it not themselves, —unto the shame of their own faces?

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

20 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.

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.”

21 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, —Your ascending-offerings, add ye unto your peace-offerings and eat ye flesh.

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

22 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;

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, 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;

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.

24 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.

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.

25 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;

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,

26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, Neither inclined their ear, —But stiffened their neck, They did more wickedly than their fathers.

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

27 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; —

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.

28 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.

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.

29 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.

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.

30 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;

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,

31 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,

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, 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;

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.

33 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.

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.

34 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.

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!”