Jeremiah 7:1-11

Living Bible

7 Then the Lord said to Jeremiah:

² Go over to the entrance of the Temple of the Lord and give this message to the people: O Judah, listen to this message from God. Listen to it, all of you who worship here. ³ The Lord, the God of Israel says: Even yet, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. ⁴ But don’t be fooled by those who lie to you and say that since the Temple of the Lord is here, God will never let Jerusalem be destroyed. ⁵ You may remain under these conditions only: If you stop your wicked thoughts and deeds and are fair to others; ⁶ if you stop exploiting orphans, widows, and foreigners, and stop your murdering; if you stop worshiping idols as you do now to your hurt, ⁷ then, and only then, will I let you stay in this land that I gave to your fathers to keep forever.

⁸ You think that because the Temple is here, you will never suffer? Don’t fool yourselves! ⁹ Do you really think that you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and worship Baal and all of those new gods of yours, ¹⁰ and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are saved!”—only to go right back to all these evil things again? ¹¹ Is my Temple but a den of robbers in your eyes? For I see all the evil going on in there.