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Jeremiah 7-9
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jeremiah 7-9
GOD’S WORD Translation
Judah Trusts the Wrong Things
7 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house, and announce from there this message: ‘Listen to the Lord’s word, all you people of Judah who go through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Change the way you live and act, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust the words of this saying, “This is the Lord’s temple, the Lord’s temple, the Lord’s temple!” It’s a lie.
5 “ ‘Suppose you really change the way you live and act and you really treat each other fairly. 6 Suppose you do not oppress foreigners, orphans, and widows, or kill anyone in this place. And suppose you do not follow other gods that lead you to your own destruction. 7 Then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave permanently to your ancestors long ago.
8 “ ‘You are trusting the words of a saying. It’s a lie that cannot help you. 9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, lie when you take oaths, burn incense as an offering to Baal, and run after other gods that you do not know. 10 Then you stand in my presence in the house that is called by my name. You think that you’re safe to do all these disgusting things. 11 The house that is called by my name has become a gathering place for thieves. I have seen what you are doing,’ ” declares the Lord.
12 “ ‘But go to my place that was at Shiloh, where I first made a dwelling place for my name. See what I did to Shiloh because of the evil done by my people Israel. 13 You have done the same things the people did at Shiloh,’ ” declares the Lord. “ ‘Although I spoke to you again and again, you did not listen. When I called you, you did not answer. 14 So what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that is called by my name. This is the place I gave to you and to your ancestors, the place where you feel so safe. 15 I will force you out of my sight as I forced out all your relatives, all of Ephraim’s descendants.’
16 “Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. Don’t plead with me, because I will not listen to you. 17 Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 Children gather wood, fathers light fires, and women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour out wine offerings to other gods in order to make me furious. 19 They aren’t really provoking me,” declares the Lord. “But they are ⌞harming⌟ themselves to their own shame.
20 “This is what the Almighty Lord says: My anger and fury will be poured out on this place, on humans and animals, and on trees and crops. My anger and fury will burn and not be put out.
21 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the meat. 22 When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not tell them anything about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But I did tell them this, ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live the way I told you to live so that things will go well for you.’ 24 But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own plans and their stubborn, evil ways. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time that your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again. 26 But you didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. You became impossible to deal with, and you were worse than your ancestors.
27 “Jeremiah, you will say all these things to them, but they will not obey you. You will call to them, but they will not respond to you. 28 You will say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the Lord their God. They did not accept discipline. Truth has disappeared and vanished from their lips.’
29 “Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a song of mourning on the bare hills, because in his anger the Lord has rejected and abandoned the people of this generation. 30 The people of Judah have done what I consider evil,” declares the Lord. “They set up their detestable idols in the house that is called by my name. They have made it unclean.[a] 31 They have built worship sites at Topheth in the valley of Ben Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters as sacrifices. I did not ask for this. It never entered my mind.
32 “That is why the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when that place will no longer be known as Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be known as Slaughter Valley. They will bury ⌞people⌟ at Topheth because no other place will be left. 33 The dead bodies of these people will become food for birds and animals, and no one will be there to frighten them away. 34 In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will banish the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms, because the land will be a wasteland.”
8 The Lord declares, “At that time the bones of the kings and the leaders of Judah, the bones of the priests and the prophets, and the bones of the others who lived in Jerusalem will be taken out of their graves. 2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky. These are the things that they had loved, served, gone after, sought, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered or buried, but they will become manure on the ground.
3 “Then the few who remain from these wicked people will want to die rather than live where I will scatter them,” declares the Lord of Armies.
The Lord’s Judgment on Judah’s False Religion
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
When someone falls, he gets back up.
When someone turns away from me, he returns.
5 The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning.
They still cling to deceit.
They refuse to return.
6 I have paid attention and listened,
but they weren’t honest.
They don’t turn away from their wickedness and ask,
“What have we done?”
They go their own ways like horses charging into battle.
7 Even storks know when it’s time to return.
Mourning doves, swallows, and cranes know
when it’s time to migrate.
But my people don’t know
that I, the Lord, am urging them to return.
8 “ ‘How can you say that you are wise
and that you have the Lord’s teachings?
The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies.
9 Wise people are put to shame, confused, and trapped.
They have rejected the Lord’s word.
They don’t really have any wisdom.
10 That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.
All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
11 They treat my dear people’s wounds
as though they were not serious, saying,
“Everything is alright! Everything is alright!”
But it’s not alright.
12 Are they ashamed that they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
They will be brought down when I punish them,’ ” says the Lord.
13 “ ‘I would have gathered their harvest,’ ” declares the Lord,
“ ‘but there are no grapes on the vine.
There are no figs on the tree,
and the leaves have dried up.
What I have given them will be taken away.’ ”
14 Why are we just sitting here? Let’s get up!
Let’s go into the fortified cities and die there.
The Lord our God has condemned us to die.
He has given us poison to drink
because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We hoped for peace, but nothing good has happened.
We hoped for a time of healing, but there’s only terror.
16 The snorting of horses can be heard from Dan.
The neighing of stallions makes the whole land tremble.
They are coming to devour the land and everything in it,
the city and its people.
17 “I am going to send snakes among you,
vipers that can’t be charmed.
They will bite you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Grief over His People’s Punishment
18 Sorrow has overwhelmed me.
I am sick at heart!
19 The cry from my dear people comes from a distant land:
“Isn’t the Lord in Zion?
Isn’t Zion’s king still there?”
They make me furious with their idols, with their foreign gods.
20 The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been saved.
21 I am crushed because my dear people have been crushed.
I mourn; terror grips me.
22 Isn’t there medicine in Gilead?
Aren’t there doctors there?
Then why hasn’t the health of my dear people been restored?
9 [b]“I wish that my head were ⌞filled with⌟ water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears
so that I could cry day and night
for my dear people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert.
I would abandon my people and go away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a mob of traitors.
3 They use their tongues like bows that shoot arrows.
Lies and dishonesty rule the land.[c]
They go from one evil thing to another,
and they don’t know me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your neighbors.
Don’t trust your relatives.
Every relative cheats.
Every neighbor goes around slandering.
5 Everyone cheats his neighbor.
No one speaks the truth.
My people train their tongues to speak lies.
They wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 Oppression follows oppression.[d]
Deceit follows deceit.
They refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I will now refine them with fire and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
People speak politely to their neighbors,
but they think of ways to set traps for them.
9 I will punish them for these things, declares the Lord.
I will punish this nation.
I still won’t be satisfied.
10 I will cry and weep for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them.
No one can hear the sound of cattle.
Birds and cattle have fled.
They are gone.
11 I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals.
I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
12 No one is wise enough to understand this.
To whom has the Lord revealed this
so that they can explain it?
The land dies; it has been ruined like the desert
so that no one can travel through it.
13 The Lord answered,
“They’ve abandoned my teachings that I placed in front of them.
They didn’t obey me, and they didn’t follow them.
14 They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods—the Baals,
as their ancestors taught them.”
15 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
I am going to feed these people bitterness
and give them poison to drink.
16 I will scatter them among nations
that they and their ancestors haven’t heard of.
I will send armies after them until I’ve wiped them out.
17 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider this:
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
Send for those who are the most skilled.
18 They should come quickly and cry for us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will flow with water.
19 The sound of crying is heard from Zion.
“We’re ruined! We’re very ashamed.
We must leave our land because our homes have been torn down.”
20 Listen to the Lord’s word, you women,
and open your ears to hear his words.
Teach your daughters how to cry.
Teach your neighbors funeral songs.
21 Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces.
Death has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22 This is what the Lord says:
Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field.
They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.
The Lord Is the Only True God
23 This is what the Lord says:
Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom.
Don’t let strong people brag about their strength.
Don’t let rich people brag about their riches.
24 If they want to brag, they should brag that they understand and know me.
They should brag that I, the Lord, act out of love, righteousness,
and justice on the earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me, declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish all who are circumcised.
26 I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.
I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads
or live in the desert.
Even though these nations are circumcised,
all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.”
Footnotes
- 7:30 “Unclean ” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is not presentable to God.
- 9:1 Jeremiah 9:1–26 in English Bibles is Jeremiah 8:23–9:25 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 9:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “They bend their tongue. Their bow is falsehood. And not for truth are they strong in the land.”
- 9:6 Greek; Masoretic Text “Your sitting is in the midst of deceit.”
Jeremiah 7-9
New International Version
Jeremiah 7-9
New International Version
False Religion Worthless
7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand(A) 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. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways(B) and your actions, and I will let you live(C) in this place. 4 Do not trust(D) in deceptive(E) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change(F) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,(G) 6 if you do not oppress(H) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(I) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(J) to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land(K) I gave your ancestors(L) for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting(M) in deceptive(N) words that are worthless.
9 “‘Will you steal(O) and murder,(P) commit adultery(Q) and perjury,[a](R) burn incense to Baal(S) and follow other gods(T) you have not known, 10 and then come and stand(U) before me in this house,(V) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?(W) 11 Has this house,(X) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers(Y) to you? But I have been watching!(Z) declares the Lord.
12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh(AA) where I first made a dwelling(AB) for my Name,(AC) and see what I did(AD) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke(AE) to you again and again,(AF) but you did not listen;(AG) I called(AH) you, but you did not answer.(AI) 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh(AJ) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,(AK) the temple(AL) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence,(AM) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’(AN)
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea(AO) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen(AP) to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven.(AQ) They pour out drink offerings(AR) to other gods to arouse(AS) my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking?(AT) declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?(AU)
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign(AV) Lord says: My anger(AW) and my wrath will be poured(AX) 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.(AY)
21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices(AZ) and eat(BA) the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands(BB) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,(BC) 23 but I gave them this command:(BD) Obey(BE) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.(BF) Walk in obedience to all(BG) I command you, that it may go well(BH) with you. 24 But they did not listen(BI) or pay attention;(BJ) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.(BK) They went backward(BL) and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again(BM) I sent you my servants(BN) the prophets.(BO) 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention.(BP) They were stiff-necked(BQ) and did more evil than their ancestors.’(BR)
27 “When you tell(BS) them all this, they will not listen(BT) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.(BU) 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.(BV) Truth(BW) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29 “‘Cut off(BX) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament(BY) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned(BZ) this generation that is under his wrath.
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil(CA) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols(CB) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled(CC) it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth(CD) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom(CE) to burn their sons and daughters(CF) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.(CG) 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,(CH) for they will bury(CI) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses(CJ) of this people will become food(CK) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(CL) 34 I will bring an end to the sounds(CM) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom(CN) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,(CO) for the land will become desolate.(CP)
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(CQ) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed(CR) 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(CS) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.(CT) They will not be gathered up or buried,(CU) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(CV) 3 Wherever I banish them,(CW) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,(CX) 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?(CY)
When someone turns away,(CZ) do they not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;(DA)
they refuse to return.(DB)
6 I have listened(DC) attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(DD) of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(DE)
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(DF)
the requirements of the Lord.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law(DG) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise(DH) will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed(DI) and trapped.(DJ)
Since they have rejected the word(DK) of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom(DL) do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.(DM)
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;(DN)
prophets(DO) and priests alike,
all practice deceit.(DP)
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.(DQ)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame(DR) 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,(DS)
says the Lord.(DT)
13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.(DU)
There will be no figs(DV) on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.(DW)
What I have given them
will be taken(DX) from them.[b]’”
14 Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities(DY)
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water(DZ) to drink,
because we have sinned(EA) against him.
15 We hoped for peace(EB)
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.(EC)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses(ED)
is heard from Dan;(EE)
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.(EF)
They have come to devour(EG)
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.
17 “See, I will send venomous snakes(EH) among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,(EI)
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.
18 You who are my Comforter[c] in sorrow,
my heart is faint(EJ) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:(EK)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King(EL) no longer there?”
20 “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
21 Since my people are crushed,(EP) I am crushed;
I mourn,(EQ) and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(ER)
Is there no physician(ES) there?
Why then is there no healing(ET)
for the wound of my people?
9 [d]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!(EU)
I would weep(EV) day and night
for the slain of my people.(EW)
2 Oh, that I had in the desert(EX)
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(EY)
a crowd of unfaithful(EZ) people.
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;(FA)
it is not by truth
that they triumph[e] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge(FB) me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;(FC)
do not trust anyone in your clan.(FD)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[f](FE)
and every friend a slanderer.(FF)
5 Friend deceives friend,(FG)
and no one speaks the truth.(FH)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(FI)
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[g] live in the midst of deception;(FJ)
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine(FK) and test(FL) them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue(FM) is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(FN)
but in their hearts they set traps(FO) for them.(FP)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(FQ) 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.(FR)
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds(FS) have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap(FT) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;(FU)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah(FV)
so no one can live there.”(FW)
12 Who is wise(FX) 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.(FY) 14 Instead, they have followed(FZ) the stubbornness of their hearts;(GA) 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(GB) and drink poisoned water.(GC) 16 I will scatter them among nations(GD) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(GE) and I will pursue them with the sword(GF) until I have made an end of them.”(GG)
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(GH) to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.(GI)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined(GJ) we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.(GK)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.(GL)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(GM)
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men(GN) from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung(GO) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom(GP)
or the strong boast of their strength(GQ)
or the rich boast of their riches,(GR)
24 but let the one who boasts boast(GS) about this:
that they have the understanding to know(GT) me,
that I am the Lord,(GU) who exercises kindness,(GV)
justice and righteousness(GW) on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh(GX)— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[h](GY) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,(GZ) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.(HA)”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods
- 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 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
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