Jeremiah 7
7
1This is the Lord's message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2Go and stand in the entrance to the Lord's Temple, and deliver this message: Listen to what the Lord has to say, all of you from Judah who are coming in through these gates to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says:
Change your ways and do what's right, and I'll let you go on living here. 4Don't believe in those who try and deceive you by repeating, “The Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here, the Temple of the Lord is here.”#7:4. In other words, because the Lord's Temple was located in Jerusalem, the Lord would never allow the city to be conquered.
5If you sincerely change your ways and do what's right, if you treat each other fairly, 6if you stop mistreating foreigners and orphans and widows, and if you stop murdering innocent people and stop hurting yourselves by worshiping other gods, 7then I'll let you go on living here in the country that I gave to your forefathers forever and ever.
8But look at you! You go on believing in these deceptions, these worthless words. 9Are you really going to continue stealing, murdering, committing adultery, and lying, burning incense to Baal, and worshiping other gods that you know nothing about, 10and then come and stand before me in my own Temple and say, “We're safe, so we can continue doing all these offensive things”? 11Do you see this house, my own Temple, as a den of thieves? Well, that's what it looks like to me too, declares the Lord.
12So why don't you go to Shiloh#7:12. See Psalms 78:60. where I first made myself a place for me to live with you, and see what I did to it because of the evil my people Israel did? 13I've warned you time and again about all these things you've done but you've refused to listen, declares the Lord. I've called out to you but you didn't want to answer me.
14So now I'm going to do to my Temple, what I did to Shiloh. This is the Temple you put your faith in, the place I gave to you and your forefathers. 15I will throw you out of my presence, just as I expelled all your Israelite relatives, all the descendants of Ephraim.#7:15. Referring to the capture and exile of the ten northern tribes.
16You, Jeremiah, are not to pray for these people. Don't cry out to me in prayer for them, don't plead with me on their behalf, because I won't listen to you. 17Can't you see how they're behaving in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children collect the firewood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry and hurt. 19But is it really me they're hurting? declares the Lord. Aren't they really hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves?
20So this is what the Lord God says: Watch! My furious anger will be poured out on this country, on people and animals, on the orchards and the crops in the field. It will burn and nobody will be able to put it out.
21This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You can add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat all the meat yourselves!#7:21. This was of course not permitted in Levitical law. However, what the Lord is saying is that since he won't accept their sacrifices they might as well eat all of the meat themselves. 22When I led your forefathers out of Egypt I didn't just give them instructions about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23This is the commandment I gave them: Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow everything I have commanded you to do, so that all will go well for you.
24But they refused to listen or pay attention. Instead they followed the desires of their own stubborn and evil thinking, so they ended up going backward and not forward. 25From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, I have sent you time after time my servants the prophets. 26But you refused to listen or pay them attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your forefathers!
27When you tell them all this, they won't listen to you. When you call out to them, they won't answer. 28So you have to tell them, “This is the nation that refused to listen to what the Lord their God said, and would not accept the Lord's discipline. Truth has died out; people don't even talk about it. 29Cut off your hair and throw it away.#7:29. Either as a sign of mourning (which was forbidden in Deuteronomy 14:1, presumably as a pagan practice), or as a sign they had broken their vow to God as if they were a Nazarite (Numbers 6:5). Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation who made him angry.”
30For the people of Judah have done what is evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have placed their offensive idols in my own Temple, making it unclean. 31They have built pagan shrines at Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom so they could sacrifice their sons and daughters by burning them in the fire. This is something I never commanded. I never even thought of such a thing!
32So watch out! The time is coming, declares the Lord, when instead of Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom this place will be called the Valley of Killing. People will bury their dead in Topheth until it's full. 33The dead bodies of these people will be food for birds of prey and wild animals, and there won't be anyone to scare them away.
34I will put a stop to the cheerful sounds of celebration and the happy voices of the bride and bridegroom from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the country will be turned into a wasteland.
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Jeremiah 7: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Jeremiah 7
7
Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple
(Jeremiah 26.1-6)
1-3The Lord told me to stand by the gate of the temple#7.1-3 temple: The Hebrew text has “house of the Lord,” another name for the temple. and tell the people who were going in that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:
Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country.#7.1-3 let you … own country: Or “live here with you.” 4Don't fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn't mean I will protect you. 5I will keep you safe only if you change your ways and are fair and honest with each other. 6Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshiping other gods. 7Then I will let you enjoy a long life in this land I gave your ancestors.
8But just look at what is happening! You put your trust in worthless lies. 9You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you. 10And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning? 11#Mt 21.13; Mk 11.17; Lk 19.46. You are thieves, and you have made my temple your hideout. But I've seen everything you have done.
12 #
Js 18.1; Ps 78.60; Jr 26.6. Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!
13While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. 14Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. 15And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.
Punishment for Worshiping Other Gods
16Jeremiah, don't pray for these people! I, the Lord, would refuse to listen. 17Do you see what the people of Judah are doing in their towns and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18#Jr 44.17-19. Children gather firewood, their fathers build fires, and their mothers mix dough to bake bread for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven.#7.18 Queen of Heaven: Probably another name for the goddess Astarte. They even offer wine sacrifices to other gods, just to insult me. 19But they are not only insulting me; they are also harming themselves by doing these shameful things.
20And now, I, the Lord All-Powerful, will flood Judah with my fiery anger until nothing is left—no people or animals, no trees or crops.
It Is Useless To Offer Sacrifices
21The Lord told me to say to the people of Judah:
I am the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, but I won't accept sacrifices from you. So don't even bother bringing them to me. You might as well just cook the meat for yourselves.
22At the time I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I didn't command them to offer sacrifices to me. 23Instead, I told them, “If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you.” 24But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other. 25Ever since your ancestors left Egypt, I have been sending my servants the prophets to speak for me. 26But you have ignored me and become even more stubborn and sinful than your ancestors ever were!
Slaughter Valley
The Lord said:
27Jeremiah, no matter what you do, the people won't listen. 28So you must say to them:
People of Judah, I am the Lord your God, but you have refused to obey me, and you didn't change when I punished you. And now, you no longer even pretend to be faithful to me.
29Shave your head bald
and throw away the hair.
Sing a funeral song
on top of a barren hill.
You people have made me angry,
and I have abandoned you.
30You have disobeyed me by putting your disgusting idols in my temple, and now the temple itself is disgusting to me. 31#2 K 23.10; Jr 32.35; Lv 18.21. At Topheth in Hinnom Valley you have built altars where you kill your children and burn them as sacrifices to other gods. I would never think of telling you to do this. 32So watch out! Someday that place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley, because you will bury your dead there until you run out of room, 33and then bodies will lie scattered on the ground. Birds and wild animals will come and eat, and no one will be around to scare them off. 34#Jr 16.9; 25.10; Ba 2.23; Rev 18.23. When I am finished with your land, there will be deathly silence in the empty ruins of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—no happy voices, no sounds of parties or wedding celebrations.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.