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Jeremiah 7:30-9:16
New International Version
Jeremiah 7:30-9:16
New International Version
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil(A) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols(B) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled(C) it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth(D) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom(E) to burn their sons and daughters(F) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.(G) 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,(H) for they will bury(I) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses(J) of this people will become food(K) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(L) 34 I will bring an end to the sounds(M) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom(N) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,(O) for the land will become desolate.(P)
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(Q) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed(R) from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served(S) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.(T) They will not be gathered up or buried,(U) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(V) 3 Wherever I banish them,(W) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,(X) 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?(Y)
When someone turns away,(Z) do they not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;(AA)
they refuse to return.(AB)
6 I have listened(AC) attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(AD) of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(AE)
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even 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(AF)
the requirements of the Lord.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law(AG) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise(AH) will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed(AI) and trapped.(AJ)
Since they have rejected the word(AK) of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom(AL) do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.(AM)
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;(AN)
prophets(AO) and priests alike,
all practice deceit.(AP)
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.(AQ)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame(AR) 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,(AS)
says the Lord.(AT)
13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.(AU)
There will be no figs(AV) on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.(AW)
What I have given them
will be taken(AX) from them.[a]’”
14 Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities(AY)
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water(AZ) to drink,
because we have sinned(BA) against him.
15 We hoped for peace(BB)
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.(BC)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses(BD)
is heard from Dan;(BE)
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.(BF)
They have come to devour(BG)
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.
17 “See, I will send venomous snakes(BH) among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,(BI)
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.
18 You who are my Comforter[b] in sorrow,
my heart is faint(BJ) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:(BK)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King(BL) no longer there?”
20 “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
21 Since my people are crushed,(BP) I am crushed;
I mourn,(BQ) and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(BR)
Is there no physician(BS) there?
Why then is there no healing(BT)
for the wound of my people?
9 [c]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!(BU)
I would weep(BV) day and night
for the slain of my people.(BW)
2 Oh, that I had in the desert(BX)
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(BY)
a crowd of unfaithful(BZ) people.
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;(CA)
it is not by truth
that they triumph[d] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge(CB) me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;(CC)
do not trust anyone in your clan.(CD)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[e](CE)
and every friend a slanderer.(CF)
5 Friend deceives friend,(CG)
and no one speaks the truth.(CH)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(CI)
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[f] live in the midst of deception;(CJ)
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine(CK) and test(CL) them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue(CM) is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(CN)
but in their hearts they set traps(CO) for them.(CP)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(CQ) myself
on such a nation as this?”
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.(CR)
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds(CS) have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap(CT) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;(CU)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah(CV)
so no one can live there.”(CW)
12 Who is wise(CX) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.(CY) 14 Instead, they have followed(CZ) the stubbornness of their hearts;(DA) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food(DB) and drink poisoned water.(DC) 16 I will scatter them among nations(DD) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(DE) and I will pursue them with the sword(DF) until I have made an end of them.”(DG)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
- Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
- Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
- Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
Jeremiah 7:30-9:16
King James Version
Jeremiah 7:30-9:16
King James Version
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
8 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
9 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.
4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
13 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
New International Version (NIV) 
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