Jeremiah 7
Christian Standard Bible
False Trust in the Temple
7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord(A) and there call out this word: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord.
3 “‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your actions,(B) and I will allow you to live in this place. 4 Do not trust deceitful words, chanting, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” 5 Instead, if you really correct your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another,[a](C) 6 if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow(D) and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, 7 I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors(E) long ago and forever. 8 But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.
9 “‘Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?(F) 10 Then do you come and stand before me in this house(G) that bears my name and say, “We are rescued, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts”? 11 Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers(H) in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.(I)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Shiloh as a Warning
12 “‘But return to my place that was at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first.(J) See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 Now, because you have done all these things—this is the Lord’s declaration—and because I have spoken to you time and time again[b] but you wouldn’t listen,(K) and I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer,(L) 14 what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that bears my name,(M) the house in which you trust, the place that I gave you and your ancestors. 15 I will banish you from my presence, just as I banished all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.’(N)
Do Not Pray for Judah
16 “As for you, do not pray for these people.(O) Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me,(P) for I will not listen to you.(Q) 17 Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,[c](R) and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke me to anger. 19 But are they really provoking me?” (S) This is the Lord’s declaration. “Isn’t it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?”
20 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Look, my anger—my burning wrath—is about to be poured out on this place,(T) on people and animals, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched.”(U)
Obedience over Sacrifice
21 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,(V) 22 for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them(W) or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice. 23 However, I did give them this command: ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.’(X) 24 Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention(Y) but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward.(Z) 25 Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants the prophets(AA) to you time and time again.[d](AB) 26 However, my people wouldn’t listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate;(AC) they did more evil than their ancestors.(AD)
A Lament for Disobedient Judah
27 “When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 Therefore, declare to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth[e] has perished—it has disappeared from their mouths. 29 Cut off the hair of your sacred vow[f](AE) and throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights,(AF) for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation under his wrath.’(AG)
30 “For the Judeans have done what is evil in my sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their abhorrent things(AH) in the house that bears my name in order to defile it.(AI) 31 They have built the high places of Topheth[g](AJ) in Ben Hinnom Valley[h](AK) in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire,(AL) a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.
32 “Therefore, look, the days are coming”(AM)—the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley.(AN) Topheth will become a cemetery,[i] because there will be no other burial place. 33 The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.(AO) 34 I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride,(AP) for the land will become a desolate waste.(AQ)
Footnotes
- 7:5 Lit justly between a man and his neighbor
- 7:13 Lit you rising early and speaking
- 7:18 = a pagan goddess
- 7:25 Lit you, each day rising early and sending
- 7:28 Or Faithfulness
- 7:29 Lit off your consecration
- 7:31 Lit of the fireplace
- 7:31 A valley south of Jerusalem
- 7:32 Lit They will bury in Topheth
Jeremiah 7
International Standard Version
Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon: Judah’s Idolatry
7 The message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s Temple and proclaim this message there. Say, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.’”
3 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“Change[a] your ways and your deeds, and I’ll let you live in this place. 4 Don’t trust deceptive words like these, and say, ‘The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord,’ 5 but rather, truly change[b] your ways and your deeds. If you truly practice justice between each person and his neighbor, 6 and if you don’t oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, and don’t shed an innocent person’s blood in this place, and if you don’t follow other gods to your own harm,[c] 7 then I’ll let you dwell in this land, the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.
8 “Look, you’re trusting in deceptive words that cannot benefit.[d] 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear by false gods, burn incense to Baal, follow other gods that you don’t know, 10 and then come to stand before me in this house that is called by my name and say, ‘We’re delivered’ so we can continue to do all these things that are repugnant to God?[e] 11 Has this house that is called by my name become a hideout[f] for bandits in your eyes? Look, I’m watching,” declares the Lord.
12 “Go to my place that was in Shiloh, where I first caused my name to dwell. See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 Now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “I spoke to you over and over again,[g] but you didn’t listen. I called to you, but you didn’t answer. 14 Just as I did to Shiloh, I’ll do to the house in which you trust and which is called by my name, the place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I’ll cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
16 “As for you, don’t pray on behalf of this people, don’t cry or offer a petition for them, and don’t plead with me, for I won’t listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they’re doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven,[h] and they pour out liquid offerings to other gods in order to provoke me. 19 Are they provoking me?” asks the Lord. “Is it not themselves, and to their own shame?” 20 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “I’m about to pour out my anger and my wrath on this place, on people and animals, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground. It will burn, and it won’t be put out.”
21 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says:
“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat. 22 Indeed, when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I didn’t speak or command them about burnt offering and sacrifice, 23 but I did give them this command:[i] ‘Obey me and I’ll be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you so it will go well for you.’ 24 But they didn’t listen,[j] nor did they pay attention.[k] They pursued their own plans,[l] stubbornly following their own evil desires.[m] They went backward and not forward. 25 From the day your ancestors left the land of Egypt to this present time, I’ve sent all my servants, the prophets, to you, again and again.[n] 26 But they didn’t listen to me, and they didn’t pay attention.[o] They stiffened their necks, and they did more evil than their ancestors.
27 “You will tell them all these things, but they won’t listen to you. You will call out to them, but they won’t answer you. 28 You will say to them, ‘This is the nation that wouldn’t listen to the voice[p] of the Lord its God and wouldn’t accept correction. Truth has perished; it has been eliminated from their discussions.’
29 “Cut off your hair and throw it away;
let your lamentations rise on the barren heights,
because the Lord has rejected and abandoned
the generation that is subject to his wrath.[q]
30 “For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes,” declares the Lord. “They have put their detestable idols[r] in the house that is called by my name in order to defile it. 31 They have built high places at Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I didn’t command this, and it never entered my mind!
32 “Therefore, the time is near,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They’ll bury in Topheth because there is no other[s] place to do it.[t] 33 The dead bodies of these people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the land, and no one will disturb them. 34 In the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem I’ll bring an end to the sound of gladness and rejoicing, to the sounds of the bridegroom and bride, for the land will become a wasteland.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 7:3 Lit. Make good
- Jeremiah 7:5 Lit. make good
- Jeremiah 7:6 Or disaster
- Jeremiah 7:8 Or profit
- Jeremiah 7:10 Lit. all these abominations
- Jeremiah 7:11 Lit. cave
- Jeremiah 7:13 Lit. getting up early and speaking
- Jeremiah 7:18 I.e. the Near Eastern fertility goddess Ishtar
- Jeremiah 7:23 Lit. I commanded them this word
- Jeremiah 7:24 Or obey
- Jeremiah 7:24 Lit. incline their ears
- Jeremiah 7:24 Lit. They walked in plans
- Jeremiah 7:24 Lit. following the stubbornness of their evil hearts
- Jeremiah 7:25 Lit. daily getting up early and sending them
- Jeremiah 7:26 Lit. incline their ears
- Jeremiah 7:28 I.e. wouldn’t obey
- Jeremiah 7:29 Lit. generation of his wrath
- Jeremiah 7:30 Lit. their detestable things
- Jeremiah 7:32 The Heb. lacks other
- Jeremiah 7:32 The Heb. lacks to do it
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