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?

The People and Their Slaves

⁸ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim freedom^(A) to them. ⁹ As a result, each was to let his male and female Hebrew slaves go free, and no one was to enslave his fellow Judean.^{(B) 10} All the officials and people who entered into covenant to let their male and female slaves go free—in order not to enslave them any longer—obeyed and let them go free. ¹¹ Afterward, however, they changed their minds and took back their male and female slaves they had let go free and forced them to become slaves again.

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I made a covenant^(C) with your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, saying, ¹⁴ ‘At the end of seven years, each of you must let his fellow Hebrew who sold himself^[a] to you go. He may serve you six years, but then you must let him go free from your service.’^(D) But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention. ¹⁵ Today you repented and did what pleased me, each of you proclaiming freedom for his neighbor. You made a covenant before me^(E) at the house that bears my name.^{(F) 16} But you have changed your minds^(G) and profaned my name.^(H) Each has taken back his male and female slaves who had been set free to go wherever they wanted, and you have again forced them to be your slaves.

¹⁷ “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming freedom, each for his fellow Hebrew and for his neighbor.^(I) I hereby proclaim freedom for you^(J)—this is the Lord’s declaration—to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth’s kingdoms.^(K)