< Jeremiah 7 >
1 The word that came unto Jeremiah, from Yahweh 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:
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.
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!
5 But, if ye shall thoroughly amend, your ways, and your doings, —Shall thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour;
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,
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,
8 Lo! ye, on your part, are trusting in false words, —To no 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;
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?
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.
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!
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,
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;
15 And will cast you out from before me, —Just as I have cast out All your brethren, All the 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.
17 Dost thou not see what, they, are doing In the cities of Judah, —and In the 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!
19 Is it me, they are provoking? Enquireth Yahweh, —Is it not themselves, —unto 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.
21 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts God of Israel, —Your ascending-offerings, add ye unto your peace-offerings and eat ye 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;
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;
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.
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;
26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, Neither inclined their ear, —But stiffened their neck, They did more wickedly than 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; —
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.
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.
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;
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,
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;
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.
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.
