Jeremiah 7:24–34

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