Jeremias (Jeremiah) 7
7
1The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:
2Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda that enter in at these gates to adore the Lord.
3Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place.
4Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord.
5For if you will order well your ways and your doings: if you will execute judgement between a man and his neighbor;
6If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt:
7I will dwell with you in this place: in the land, which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for evermore.
8Behold, you put your trust in lying words which shall not profit you:
9To steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer to Baalim, and to go after strange gods, which you know not.
10And you have come and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered, because we have done all these abominations.
11Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in your eyes become a den of robbers? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the Lord.
12Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the beginning: and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
13And now, because you have done all these works, saith the Lord: and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not heard: and I have called you, and you have not answered:
14I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in which you trust, and to the places which I have given you and your fathers, as I did to Silo.
15And I will cast you away from before my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim.
16Therefore, do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them: and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee.
17Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda 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 heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger.
19Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? Is it not themselves, to the confusion of their countenance?
20Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, my wrath and my indignation was enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land: and it shall burn and shall not be quenched.
21Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices and eat ye the flesh.
22For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
23But this thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God and you shall be my people. And walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.
24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear: but walked in their own will and in the perversity of their wicked heart, and went backward and not forward,
25From the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt even to this day. And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets from day to day, rising up early and sending.
26And they have not hearkened to me nor inclined their ear: but have hardened their neck and have done worse than their fathers.
27And thou shalt speak to them all these words, but they will not hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, but they will not answer thee.
28And thou shalt say to them: This is a nation which hath not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God nor received instruction. Faith is lost and is taken away out of their mouth.
29Cut off thy (hair), and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath,
30Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to pollute it.
31And they have built the high places of Topeth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire: which I commanded not nor thought on in my heart.
32Therefore, behold, the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom: but the valley of slaughter. And they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place.
33And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away.
34And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Juda and out of the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the brid egroom and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
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Jeremias (Jeremiah) 7: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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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