Jeremiah 7–8

False Religion Worthless

7This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand^m at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. ³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your waysⁿ and your actions, and I will let you live^o in this place. ⁴Do not trust^p in deceptive^q words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” ⁵If you really change^r your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,^{s 6}if you do not oppress^t the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood^u in this place, and if you do not follow other gods^v to your own harm, ⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land^w I gave your ancestors^x for ever and ever. ⁸But look, you are trusting^y in deceptive^z words that are worthless.

⁹“ ‘Will you steal^a and murder,^b commit adultery^c and perjury,^ad burn incense to Baal^e and follow other gods^f you have not known, ¹⁰and then come and stand^g before me in this house,^h which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?^{i 11}Has this house,^j which bears my Name, become a den of robbers^k to you? But I have been watching!^l declares the Lord.

¹²“ ‘Go now to the place in Shiloh^m where I first made a dwellingⁿ for my Name,^o and see what I did^p to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke^q to you again and again,^r but you did not listen;^s I called^t you, but you did not answer.^{u 14}Therefore, what I did to Shiloh^v I will now do to the house that bears my Name,^w the temple^x you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. ¹⁵I will thrust you from my presence,^y just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’^z

¹⁶“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea^a or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen^b to you. ¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven.^c They pour out drink offerings^d to other gods to arouse^e my anger. ¹⁹But am I the one they are provoking?^f declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?^g

²⁰“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign^h Lord says: My angerⁱ and my wrath will be poured^j out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.^k

²¹“ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices^l and eat^m the meat yourselves! ²²For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commandsⁿ about burnt offerings and sacrifices,^{o 23}but I gave them this command:^p Obey^q me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.^r Walk in obedience to all^s I command you, that it may go well^t with you. ²⁴But they did not listen^u or pay attention;^v instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.^w They went backward^x and not forward. ²⁵From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again^y I sent you my servants^z the prophets.^{a 26}But they did not listen to me or pay attention.^b They were stiff-necked^c and did more evil than their ancestors.’^d

²⁷“When you tell^e them all this, they will not listen^f to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.^{g 28}Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.^h Truthⁱ has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

²⁹“ ‘Cut off^j your hair and throw it away; take up a lament^k on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned^l this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰“ ‘The people of Judah have done evil^m in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idolsⁿ in the house that bears my Name and have defiled^o it. ³¹They have built the high places of Topheth^p in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^q to burn their sons and daughters^r in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.^{s 32}So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,^t for they will bury^u the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³Then the carcasses^v of this people will become food^w for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^{x 34}I will bring an end to the sounds^y of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom^z in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,^a for the land will become desolate.^b

8“ ‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones^c of the people of Jerusalem will be removed^d from their graves. ²They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served^e and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.^f They will not be gathered up or buried,^g but will be like dung lying on the ground.^{h 3}Wherever I banish them,ⁱ all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,^j declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“ ‘When people fall down, do they not get up?^k

When someone turns away,^l do they not return?

⁵Why then have these people turned away?

Why does Jerusalem always turn away?

They cling to deceit;^m

they refuse to return.ⁿ

⁶I have listened^o attentively,

but they do not say what is right.

None of them repent^p of their wickedness,

saying, “What have I done?”

Each pursues their own course^q

like a horse charging into battle.

⁷Even the stork in the sky

knows her appointed seasons,

and the dove, the swift and the thrush

observe the time of their migration.

But my people do not know^r

the requirements of the Lord.

⁸“ ‘How can you say, “We are wise,

for we have the law^s of the Lord,”

when actually the lying pen of the scribes

has handled it falsely?

⁹The wise^t will be put to shame;

they will be dismayed^u and trapped.^v

Since they have rejected the word^w of the Lord,

what kind of wisdom^x do they have?

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other men

and their fields to new owners.^y

From the least to the greatest,

all are greedy for gain;^z

prophets^a and priests alike,

all practice deceit.^b

¹¹They dress the wound of my people

as though it were not serious.

“Peace, peace,” they say,

when there is no peace.^c

¹²Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?

No, they have no shame^d at all;

they do not even know how to blush.

So they will fall among the fallen;

they will be brought down when they are punished,^e

says the Lord.^f

¹³“ ‘I will take away their harvest,

declares the Lord.

There will be no grapes on the vine.^g

There will be no figs^h on the tree,

and their leaves will wither.ⁱ

What I have given them

will be taken^j from them.^a’ ”

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?

Gather together!

Let us flee to the fortified cities^k

and perish there!

For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish

and given us poisoned water^l to drink,

because we have sinned^m against him.

¹⁵We hoped for peaceⁿ

but no good has come,

for a time of healing

but there is only terror.^o

¹⁶The snorting of the enemy’s horses^p

is heard from Dan;^q

at the neighing of their stallions

the whole land trembles.^r

They have come to devour^s

the land and everything in it,

the city and all who live there.

¹⁷“See, I will send venomous snakes^t among you,

vipers that cannot be charmed,^u

and they will bite you,”

declares the Lord.

¹⁸You who are my Comforter^b in sorrow,

my heart is faint^v within me.

¹⁹Listen to the cry of my people

from a land far away:^w

“Is the Lord not in Zion?

Is her King^x no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^y my anger with their images,

with their worthless^z foreign idols?”^a

²⁰“The harvest is past,

the summer has ended,

and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed,^b I am crushed;

I mourn,^c and horror grips me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?^d

Is there no physician^e there?

Why then is there no healing^f

for the wound of my people?