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 Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds,^(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 change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another,^{[a](C) 6} if you no longer oppress the foreigner, 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) called by My name and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts’? ¹¹ Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers^(H) in your view? Yes, I too have seen it.”^(I)

This is the Lord’s declaration.