^7:3The Lord God of Israel who rules over all⁴ says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.⁵ If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.⁶^7:4Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says,⁷ “We are safe!⁸ The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!”⁹^7:5You must change¹⁰ the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.¹¹^7:6Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.¹² Stop killing innocent people¹³ in this land. Stop paying allegiance to¹⁴ other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.¹⁵^7:7If you stop doing these things,¹⁶ I will allow you to continue to live in this land¹⁷ which I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.¹⁸

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Footnotes

4 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.” Compare the use of similar titles in 2:19; 5:14; 6:6 and see the explanation in the study note at 2:19. In this instance the title appears to emphasize the Lord as the heavenly King who drags his disobedient vassals into court (and threatens them with judgment).
5 Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [], 52) is excellent.
6 Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.
7 Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”
8 The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 ]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).
10 The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
11 Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
12 Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”
13 Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”
14 Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
15 Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”
16 The translation uses imperatives in vv. 5–6 followed by the phrase, “If you do all this,” to avoid the long and complex sentence structure of the Hebrew sentence which has a series of conditional clauses in vv. 5–6 followed by a main clause in v. 7.
17 Heb “live in this place, in this land.”
18 Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“ ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your actions, and I will allow you to live in this place. Do not trust deceitful words, chanting, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” Instead, if you really correct your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever.

NLTNew Living Translation

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:

“ ‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!” But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. Do not trust in the deceitful words, saying, ‘The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.’ For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, you 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, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.

KJV 1900King James Version

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

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