Jeremiah 7

False Trust in the Temple

7This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord ^mand there call out this word: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord.

³“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds, ⁿand I will allow you to live in this place. ⁴Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. ⁵Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, ^op6if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow ^qand no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, ⁷I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors ^rlong ago and forever. ⁸But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.

⁹“Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? ^s10Then do you come and stand before Me in this house ^tcalled by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts’? ¹¹Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers ^uin your view? Yes, I too have seen it.” ^v

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Shiloh As a Warning

¹²“But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. ^wSee what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel. ¹³Now, because you have done all these things”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and because I have spoken to you time and time again ^xbut you wouldn’t listen, ^yand I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer, ^z14what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name ^a—the house in which you trust—the place that I gave you and your ancestors. ¹⁵I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim. ^b

Do Not Pray for Judah

¹⁶“As for you, do not pray for these people. ^cDo not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg Me, ^dfor I will not listen to you. ^e17Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, ^fgand they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke Me to anger. ¹⁹But are they really provoking Me?” ^hThis is the Lord’s declaration. “Isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?”

²⁰Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, My anger—My burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place, ⁱon man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.” ^j

Obedience Over Sacrifice

²¹This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves, ^k22for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them ^lor command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. ²³However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you. ^m24Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention ⁿbut followed their own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward. ^o25Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent all My servants the prophets ^pto you time and time again. ^qr26However, they wouldn’t listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate; ^stthey did more evil than their ancestors. ^u

A Lament for Disobedient Judah

²⁷“When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. ²⁸You must therefore declare to them: This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth ^vhas perished—it has disappeared from their mouths. ²⁹Cut off the hair of your sacred vow ^wxand throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, ^yfor the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under His wrath. ^z

³⁰“For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their detestable things ^ain the house that is called by My name and defiled it. ^b31They have built the high places of Topheth ^cdin the Valley of Hinnom ^efin order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, ^ga thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought. ^h

³²“Therefore, take note! Days are coming” ⁱ—the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ^jTopheth will become a cemetery, ^kbecause there will be no other burial place. ³³The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away. ^l34I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, ^mfor the land will become a desolate waste. ⁿ