Jeremiah 7

1 The word that was maad of the Lord to Jeremye,

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

2 and seide, Stonde thou in the yate of the hous of the Lord, and preche there this word, and seie, Al Juda, that entren bi these yatis for to worschipe the Lord, here ye the word of the Lord.

“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 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Make ye good youre weies, and youre studies, and Y schal dwelle with you 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 Nyle ye triste in the wordis of leesyng, and seie, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord is.

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 ye blessen youre weies, and your studies; if ye doon doom bitwixe a man and his neiybore;

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

6 if ye maken not fals caleng to a comelyng, and to a fadirles child, and to a widewe; nether scheden out innocent blood in this place, and goen not after alien goddis, in to yuel to you silf,

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 Y schal dwelle with you in this place, in the lond which Y yaf to youre fadris, fro the world and til in to the world.

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

8 Lo! ye trusten to you in the wordis of leesyng, that shulen not profite to you;

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

9 to stele, to sle, to do auowtrie, to swere falsli, to make sacrifice to Baalym, and to go aftir alien goddys, whiche ye knowen not.

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

10 And ye camen, and stoden bifor me in this hous, in which my name is clepid to help; and ye seiden, We ben delyuered, for we han do alle these abhomynaciouns.

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 Whether therfor this hous, wherynne my name is clepid to help bifore youre iyen, is maad a denne of theues? I, Y am, Y siy, seith the Lord.

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 Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwellide at the bigynnyng, and se ye what thingis Y dide to it, for the malice of my puple 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, for ye han do alle these werkis, seith the Lord, and Y spak to you, and roos eerli, and Y spak, and ye herden not, and Y clepide you, and ye answeriden not;

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 Y schal do to this hous, wherynne my name is clepid to help, and in which hous ye han trist, and to the place which Y yaf to you and to youre fadris, as Y dide to Silo.

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 Y schal caste you forth fro my face, as Y castide forth alle youre britheren, al the seed of Effraym.

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

16 Therfor nyl thou preie for this puple, nether take thou heriyng and preier for hem; and ayenstonde thou not me, for Y schal not here thee.

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 Whether thou seest not, what these men don in the citees of Juda, and in the stretis of Jerusalem?

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

18 The sones gaderen stickis, and the fadris kyndlen a fier; and wymmen sprengen togidere ynnere fatnesse, to make kakis to the queen of heuene, to make sacrifice to alien goddis, and to terre me to wrathfulnesse.

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 Whether thei stiren me to wrathfulnesse? seith the Lord; whether thei stiren not hem silf in to schenschip of her cheer?

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

20 Therfor the Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! my strong veniaunce and myn indignacioun is wellid togidere on this place, on men, and on beestis, and on the tree of the cuntrei, and on the fruitis of erthe; and it schal be kyndlid, and it schal not be quenchid.

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 The Lord of oostis, God of Israel, seith these thingis, Heepe ye youre brent sacrifices to youre slayn sacrifices, and ete ye fleischis.

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 Y spak not with youre fadris, and Y comaundide not to hem of the word of brent sacrifices, and of slayn sacrifices, in the dai in which Y ledde hem out of the lond of Egipt.

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 Y comaundide this word to hem, and Y seide, Here ye my vois, and Y schal be God to you, and ye schulen be a puple to me; and go ye in al the weie which Y comaundide to you, that it be wel to 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 thei herden not, nether bowiden doun her eere, but thei yeden in her lustis, and in the schrewidnesse of her yuel herte; and thei ben put bihynde, and not bifore,

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 fro the dai in which her fadris yeden out of the lond of Egipt til to this dai. And Y sente to you alle my seruauntis profetis, and Y roos eerli bi the dai, and Y sente.

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 thei herden not me, nether bowiden doun her eere; but thei maden hard her nol, and wrouyten worse than the fadris of hem.

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 thou schalt speke to hem alle these wordis, and thei schulen not heere thee; and thou schalt clepe hem, and thei schul not answere to thee.

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

28 And thou schalt seie to hem, This is the folc, that herde not the vois of her Lord God, nether resseyuede chastysyng; feith perischide, and is takun awei fro the mouth of hem.

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 Clippe thin heer, and cast awei, and take thou weilyng streiytli; for the Lord hath cast awei, and hath forsake the generacioun of his strong veniaunce.

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 sones of Juda han do yuel bifor myn iyen, seith the Lord; thei han set her offendyngis in the hous, in which my name is clepid to help, that thei schulden defoule that hous;

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 thei bildiden hiye thingis in Tophet, which is in the valei of the sone of Ennon, that thei schulden brenne her sones and her douytris bi fier, whiche thingis Y comaundide not, nether thouyte in myn herte.

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 Therfor lo! daies comen, seith the Lord, and it schal no more be seid Tophet, and the valei of the sone of Ennon, but the valey of sleyng; and thei schulen birie in Tophet, for ther is no 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 deed careyn of this puple schal be in to mete to the briddis of heuene, and to the beestis of erthe; and noon schal be that schal dryue awei.

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 Y schal make to ceesse the vois of ioye, and the vois of gladnesse, and the vois of spouse, and the vois of spousesse fro the citees of Juda, and fro the stretis of Jerusalem; for the lond schal be in desolacioun.

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.”