This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways(A) and your actions, and I will let you live(B) in this place. Do not trust(C) in deceptive(D) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change(E) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,(F) if you do not oppress(G) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(H) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(I) to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land(J) I gave your ancestors(K) for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting(L) in deceptive(M) words that are worthless.

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כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר יְהוָ֤ה צְבָאוֹת֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הֵיטִ֥יבוּ דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם וּמַֽעַלְלֵיכֶ֑ם וַאֲשַׁכְּנָ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

אַל־תִּבְטְח֣וּ לָכֶ֔ם אֶל־דִּבְרֵ֥י הַשֶּׁ֖קֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵיכַ֤ל יְהוָה֙ הֵיכַ֣ל יְהוָ֔ה הֵיכַ֥ל יְהוָ֖ה הֵֽמָּה׃

כִּ֤י אִם־הֵיטֵיב֙ תֵּיטִ֔יבוּ אֶת־דַּרְכֵיכֶ֖ם וְאֶת־מַֽעַלְלֵיכֶ֑ם אִם־עָשׂ֤וֹ תַֽעֲשׂוּ֙ מִשְׁפָּ֔ט בֵּ֥ין אִ֖ישׁ וּבֵ֥ין רֵעֵֽהוּ׃

גֵּ֣ר יָת֤וֹם וְאַלְמָנָה֙ לֹ֣א תַֽעֲשֹׁ֔קוּ וְדָ֣ם נָקִ֔י אַֽל־תִּשְׁפְּכ֖וּ בַּמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְאַחֲרֵ֨י אֱלֹהִ֧ים אֲחֵרִ֛ים לֹ֥א תֵלְכ֖וּ לְרַ֥ע לָכֶֽם׃

וְשִׁכַּנְתִּ֤י אֶתְכֶם֙ בַּמָּק֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לַאֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם לְמִן־עוֹלָ֖ם וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃

הִנֵּ֤ה אַתֶּם֙ בֹּטְחִ֣ים לָכֶ֔ם עַל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַשָּׁ֑קֶר לְבִלְתִּ֖י הוֹעִֽיל׃

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The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[a] says: Change the way you have been living and do what is right.[b] If you do, I will allow you to continue to live in this land.[c] Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says,[d] “We are safe![e] The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!”[f] You must change[g] the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.[h] Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.[i] Stop killing innocent people[j] in this land. Stop paying allegiance to[k] other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.[l] If you stop doing these things,[m] I will allow you to continue to live in this land[n] that I gave to your ancestors as a lasting possession.[o]

“‘But just look at you![p] You are putting your confidence in a false belief[q] that will not deliver you.[r]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 7:3 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel.” sn 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).
  2. Jeremiah 7:3 tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.
  3. Jeremiah 7:3 tn Heb “place.” But this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.
  4. Jeremiah 7:4 tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”
  5. Jeremiah 7:4 tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  6. Jeremiah 7:4 tn 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 HT]). 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).
  7. Jeremiah 7:5 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  8. Jeremiah 7:5 tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  9. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “Stop oppressing resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.”sn Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19.
  10. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”
  11. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
  12. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”
  13. Jeremiah 7:7 tn 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.
  14. Jeremiah 7:7 tn Heb “live in this place, in this land.”
  15. Jeremiah 7:7 tn Heb “gave to your fathers [with reference to] from ancient times even unto forever.”
  16. Jeremiah 7:8 tn Heb “Behold!”
  17. Jeremiah 7:8 tn Heb “You are trusting in lying words.” See the similar phrase in v. 4 and the note there.
  18. Jeremiah 7:8 tn Heb “not profit [you].”

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.

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

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