Jeremiah 7
7
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2“Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim this word there, and say, ‘Hear the LORD’s word, all you of Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.’”
3 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘The LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple, the LORD’s temple, are these.’ 5For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbour; 6if you don’t oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don’t shed innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your own hurt, 7then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forever more. 8Behold, you trust in lying words that can’t profit. 9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods that you have not known, 10then 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? 11Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it,” says 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. 13Now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn’t hear; and I called you, but you didn’t answer; 14therefore 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. 15I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole offspring#7:15 or, seed of Ephraim.
16“Therefore don’t pray for this people. Don’t lift up a cry or prayer for them or make intercession to me; for I will not hear you. 17Don’t you see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19Do they provoke me to anger?” says the LORD. “Don’t they provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?”
20 Therefore the Lord GOD says: “Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man, on animal, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and will not be quenched.”
21 The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel says: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. 22For I didn’t speak to your fathers or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices; 23but this thing I commanded them, saying, ‘Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. Walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ 24But they didn’t listen or turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 25Since the day that your fathers came 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. 26Yet they didn’t listen to me or incline their ear, but made their neck stiff. They did worse than their fathers.
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. 28You shall tell them, ‘This is the nation that has not listened to the LORD their God’s voice, nor received instruction. Truth has perished, and is cut off from their mouth.’ 29Cut 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.
30“For the children 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. 31They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I didn’t command, nor did it come into my mind. 32Therefore behold, the days come”, says the LORD, “that it will no more be called ‘Topheth’ or ‘The valley of the son of Hinnom’, but ‘The valley of Slaughter’; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury. 33The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth. No one will frighten them away. 34Then I will 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 will become a waste.”
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Jeremiah 7: WMBBE
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Jeremiah 7
7
The Temple Sermon.#The Temple of the Lord will not guarantee safety against enemy invasion or any other misfortune. 1The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2Stand at the gate of the house of the Lord and proclaim this message there: Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord! 3Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds so that I may dwell with you in this place.#Jer 18:11; 26:13. 4Do not put your trust in these deceptive words: “The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!”#Mi 3:11. 5Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with your neighbor; 6if you no longer oppress the alien,#The alien: specially protected within Israelite society; cf. Ex 22:20; Nm 9:14; 15:14; Dt 5:14; 28:43. the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow after other gods to your own harm,#Ex 22:21–24. 7only then will I let you continue to dwell in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors long ago and forever.#Dt 4:40.
8But look at you! You put your trust in deceptive words to your own loss! 9Do you think you can steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, sacrifice to Baal, follow other gods that you do not know,#Jer 44:17. 10and then come and stand in my presence in this house, which bears my name, and say: “We are safe! We can commit all these abominations again!”?#Jer 32:34. 11Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves? I have seen it for myself!—oracle of the Lord.#Mt 21:13. 12Go to my place at Shiloh,#Shiloh: an important sanctuary where the ark of the covenant was kept, according to the Books of Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel. In response to the corrupt behavior of the priests serving there, God allows the Philistines to destroy Shiloh and take the ark of the covenant. Cf. 1 Sm 1:9; 4:3–4; Ps 78:60, 68–69. where I made my name dwell in the beginning. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.#Jos 18:1. 13And now, because you have committed all these deeds—oracle of the Lord—because you did not listen, though I spoke to you untiringly, and because you did not answer, though I called you, 14I will do to this house, which bears my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your ancestors, exactly what I did to Shiloh.#Jer 26:9. 15I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast away all your kindred, all the offspring of Ephraim.#1 Kgs 9:7; 2 Kgs 17:23.
Abuses in Worship. 16You, now, must not intercede for this people! Do not raise a cry or prayer in their behalf!#Jer 11:14; 14:11. Do not press me, for I will not listen to you! 17Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, their fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven,#Queen of Heaven: probably Astarte, goddess of fertility (cf. 1 Sm 31:10; 1 Kgs 11:5), worshiped particularly by women (cf. Jer 44:15–19). Such worship was evidently reinforced during the reign of King Manasseh (2 Kgs 21:3–7) and was revived after Josiah’s death. while libations are poured out to other gods—all to offend me!#Jer 44:17, 19. 19Are they really offending me—oracle of the Lord—or rather themselves, to their own disgrace?#Jb 35:6. 20Therefore, thus says the Lord God: my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place, upon human being and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruits of the earth; it will burn and not be quenched.#Jer 36:29; 2 Kgs 22:17.
21Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Heap your burnt offerings upon your sacrifices; eat up the meat! 22In speaking to your ancestors on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I gave them no command#I gave them no command: right conduct rather than formal ritual was God’s will concerning his people (v. 23). concerning burnt offering or sacrifice. 23This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk exactly in the way I command you, so that you may prosper.#Jer 11:4; Lv 26:3, 12.
24But they did not listen to me, nor did they pay attention. They walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.#Jer 17:23. 25From the day that your ancestors left the land of Egypt even to this day, I kept on sending all my servants the prophets to you.#2 Chr 36:15–16; Bar 1:19. 26Yet they have not listened to me nor have they paid attention; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their ancestors.#Jer 19:15; 2 Chr 30:8. 27When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.
29#Jer 9:17–21. Cut off your hair#Hair: the unshorn hair of the nazirite, regarded as sacred because of a vow, temporary or permanent, to abstain from cutting or shaving the hair; nazirites also avoided contact with a corpse and with all products of the vine; cf. Nm 6:4–8. The cutting of this hair was a sign of extreme mourning. and throw it away!
on the heights raise a lament;
The Lord has indeed rejected and cast off
the generation that draws down his wrath.
30The people of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes—oracle of the Lord. They have set up their detestable things in the house which bears my name, thereby defiling it.#Jer 32:34. 31In the Valley of Ben-hinnom#Valley of Ben-hinnom: this valley was probably south of Jerusalem. Topheth: perhaps, “fire pit.” they go on building the high places of Topheth to sacrifice their sons and daughters by fire, something I never commanded or considered. 32Be assured! Days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when they will no longer say “Topheth” or “Valley of Ben-hinnom” but “Valley of Slaughter.” For want of space, Topheth will become burial ground.#Jer 19:6; 32:35. 33The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and beasts of the earth, which no one will drive away.#Jer 16:4; 34:20. 34I will silence the cry of joy, the cry of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will be turned to rubble.#Jer 16:9.
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