Jeremiah 7

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

The word which 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.

Take your place in the doorway of the Lord's house, and give out this word there, and say, Give ear to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who come inside these doors to give worship to 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.

The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says, Let your ways and your doings be changed for the better and I will let you go on living 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.

Put no faith in false words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, are these.

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

For if your ways and your doings are truly changed for the better; if you truly give right decisions between a man and his neighbour;

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 are not cruel to the man from a strange country, and to the child without a father, and to the widow, and do not put the upright to death in this place, or go after other gods, causing damage to yourselves:

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 go on living in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers in the past and for ever.

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

See, you put your faith in false words which are of no profit.

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 take the goods of others, put men to death, and be untrue to your wives, and take false oaths, and have perfumes burned to the Baal, and go after other gods which are strange to you;

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 come and take your place before me in this house, which is named by my name, and say, We have been made safe; so that you may do all these disgusting things?

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 is named by my name, become a hole of thieves to you? Truly I, even I, have seen it, says 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 my place which was in Shiloh, where I put my name at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil-doing 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 works, says the Lord, and I sent my word to you, getting up early and sending, but you did not give ear; and my voice came to you, but you gave no 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.

For this reason I will do to the house which is named by my name, and in which you have put your faith, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

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 send you away from before my face, as I have sent away all your brothers, even all the seed 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.

And as for you (Jeremiah), make no prayers for this people, send up no cry or prayer for them, make no request for them to me: for I will not give ear.

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 towns 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 children go for wood, the fathers get the fire burning, the women are working the paste to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and drink offerings are drained out to other gods, moving me to wrath.

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

Are they moving me to wrath? says the Lord; are they not moving themselves to their 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.

So this is what the Lord God has said: See, my wrath and my passion will be let loose on this place, on man and beast, and on the trees of the field, and on the produce of the earth; it will be burning and will not be put out.

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

These are the words of the Lord of armies, the God of Israel: Put your burned offerings with your offerings of beasts, and take flesh for your food.

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 I said nothing to your fathers, and gave them no orders, on the day when I took them out of Egypt, about burned offerings or offerings of beasts:

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 was the order I gave them, saying, Give ear to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people: go in all the way ordered by me, so that all may be well for 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,

But they took no note and did not give ear, but were guided by the thoughts and the pride of their evil hearts, going back 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 when your fathers came out of Egypt till this day, I have sent my servants the prophets to you, getting up early every day and sending them:

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.

But still they took no note and would not give ear, but they made their necks stiff, doing worse 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.

And you are to say all these words to them, but they will not give ear to you: you will send out your voice to them, but they will give no 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.

And you are to say to them, This is the nation which has not given ear to the voice of their God, or taken his teaching to heart: good faith is dead and is cut off from their mouths.

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.

Let your hair be cut off, O Jerusalem, and let it go, and let a song of grief go up on the open hilltops; for the Lord is turned away from the generation of his wrath and has given them up.

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 children of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes, says the Lord: they have put their disgusting images in the house which is named by my name, making it unclean.

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.

And they have put up the high place of Topheth in the valley of the son of Hinnom, burning their sons and their daughters there in the fire; a thing which was not ordered by me and never came into 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.

For this cause, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it will no longer be named Topheth, or, The valley of the son of Hinnom, but, The valley of Death: for they will put the dead into the earth in Topheth till 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.

And the bodies of this people will be food for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth; and there will be no one to send 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.

And in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will put an end to the laughing voices, the voice of joy and the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride: for the land will become a waste.