Jeremiah 7

The Temple Message

1 The word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 “Stand at the gate of the LORD’s house and announce this: ‘Listen to the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship.’”

3 “This is what the LORD of armies, the God of Israel, says: Change your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.”

4 “Do not trust in lying words that say, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’”

5 “If you really change your ways and your actions, if you actually do justice between a person and his neighbor…”

6 “If you do not oppress the outsider, the orphan, or the widow… and do not shed innocent blood in this place… and do not chase after other gods to ruin yourselves…”

7 “…then I will let you live in this land, the land I gave your fathers forever.”

Trusting in the Temple Instead of Obedience

8 “But look, you are putting your trust in lying words that cannot help you.”

9 “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and run after other gods you do not know…”

10 “…and then come stand before Me in this house called by My name and say, ‘We are safe,’ just so you can keep doing these disgusting things?”

11 “Has this house that bears My name become a thieves’ den to you, I see everything you are doing,” declares the LORD.

Shiloh as a Warning

12 “Go to My place in Shiloh where I first let My name dwell. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.”

13 “You have done all these things,” declares the LORD, “and though I kept speaking to you again and again, you did not listen. I called, but you did not answer.”

14 “So I will do to this house called by My name, the one you trust in, and to the place I gave you and your fathers, just like I did to Shiloh.”

15 “And I will throw you out of My presence like I threw out all your brothers, the entire family of Ephraim.”

No Prayer for This People

16 “As for you, do not pray for this people. Do not cry out or intercede for them. I am not listening.”

17 “Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem?”

18 “The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. They pour drink offerings to other gods just to provoke Me.”

19 “But are they hurting Me,” declares the LORD. “Are they not only hurting themselves, bringing shame on their own heads?”

20 “So this is what the Lord GOD says: My anger and fury will pour out on this place, on people and animals, on trees and crops, and it will burn and not be quenched.”

Empty Sacrifices

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!”

22 “When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

23 “I told them this: Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. Walk in the way I command so it may go well with you.”

24 “But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead they followed their stubborn hearts, going backward, not forward.”

25 “From the day your fathers came out of Egypt until now, I sent My servants the prophets to you day after day.”

26 “But they did not listen or pay attention. They stiffened their necks and acted worse than their fathers.”

A People Who Refuse to Hear

27 “So you will speak all these words to them, but they will not listen. You will call to them, but they will not answer.”

28 “So tell them: This is the nation that did not obey the LORD their God or accept correction. Truth has vanished; it has been cut off from their mouths.”

A Call to Mourning

29 “Cut off your hair and throw it away; sing out a lament on the bare hills, because the LORD has rejected and abandoned the people who made Him furious.”

Judah’s Idolatry and Child Sacrifice

30 “The people of Judah have done evil in My sight,” declares the LORD. “They set up disgusting idols in the house called by My name, desecrating it.”

31 “They built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, something I never commanded, nor did it enter My mind.”

The Valley of Slaughter

32 “So the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, because they will bury bodies there until no place is left.”

33 “The dead bodies of this people will become food for birds and beasts, with no one to scare them away.”

Joy Removed from Judah

34 “I will stop the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and groom, in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, because the whole land will become a wasteland.”