Jeremiah 7
7
Jeremiah’s Proclamation at the Gate of the House of Yahweh
1The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,#Literally “to say” 2“Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, those who enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh. 3Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. 4Do not trust in the deceitful words,#Literally “the words of the deception” saying,#Literally “to say” ‘The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.’ 5For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, 6you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods to your harm,#Literally “to harm to you” 7then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors#Or “fathers” forever and ever.#Literally “from eternity and until eternity”
8Look, you are relying for yourselves on deceitful words#Literally “the words of the deception” without benefiting. 9Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear falsely?#Literally “to the lie” And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? 10And then you come and you stand before#Literally “to the face of” me in this house, which is called by my name,#Literally “my name over it” and you say, ‘we are safe to go on doing#Literally “for the sake of the doing of” all of these detestable things.’ 11Has this house, which is called by my name,#Literally “my name over it” become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it,” #Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
12“For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it because of#Literally “from face” the wickedness of my people Israel. 13And now, because of your doing all these things,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and I have spoken to you over and over again,#Literally “I spoke to you doing early and speaking” and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered, 14therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name,#Literally “my name over it” in which you are trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors#Or “fathers” what#Literally “as that” I did to Shiloh. 15And I will cast you out of my sight#Literally “from at my face” just as I cast out all of your blood relatives,#Or “brothers” all of the offspring of Ephraim.” ’
16“And you, you must not pray for this people, and you must not lift up for them a cry of entreaty or a prayer, and you must not plead with me, for I will not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children are gathering wood, and the fathers are kindling the fire, and the women are kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger. 19Are they provoking me to anger? ” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “Is it not themselves they hurt, for the sake of the shame of their faces?” 20Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will not be extinguished.”
21Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22For I did not speak with your ancestors,#Or “fathers” nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. 23But I only commanded them this word, saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.’ 24Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they became worse instead of better.#Literally “they were to backward and not to face” 25From the day that your ancestors#Or “fathers” came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, sending again and again.#Literally “doing early and sending” 26Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors.#Or “fathers” 27So you shall speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you, and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
The Valley of the Slaughter
28“And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths.#Hebrew “mouth” 29Shear your hair and throw it#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation away, and lift up a lament on the barren heights, for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.’ 30For the people #Or “children” of Judah have done evil in my eyes,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “They have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name,#Literally “my name over it” to defile it. 31And they built the high place of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind.#Or “heart” 32Therefore look, days are about to come,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, and they will bury in Topheth until there is no more place.#Literally “from there is no place” 33And the dead bodies#Hebrew “body” of this people will be as food for the birds#Hebrew “bird” of the heavens,#Or “sky” and for the animals#Hebrew “animal” of the earth, without anyone to scare them#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation away. 34And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.
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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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