1 THE word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.
3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.
5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

1The word that came to Ieremiah from the Lord, saying,

2Stand in the gate of the Lords house, and proclaime there this word, and say, Heare the word of the Lord, all ye of Iudah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.

3Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel; Amend your wayes, and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are these.

5For if ye throughly amend your waies and your doings, if you throughly execute iudgement betweene a man and his neighbour:

6If ye oppresse not the stranger, the fatherlesse and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walke after other gods to your hurt:

7Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gaue to your fathers, for euer and euer.

8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

9Will ye steale, murther, and commit adulterie, and sweare falsly, and burne incense vnto Baal, and walke after other gods, whom ye know not;

10And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my Name, and say, We are deliuered, to do all these abominations?

11Is this house, which is called by my Name, become a denne of robbers in your eies? Behold, euen I haue seen it, saith the Lord.

12But goe yee now vnto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my Name at the first, and see what I did to it, for the wickednesse of my people Israel.

13And now because ye haue done all these workes, saith the Lord, and I spake vnto you, rising vp earely, and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:

14Therefore will I doe vnto this house, which is called by my Name, wherein yee trust, and vnto the place which I gaue to you, and to your fathers, as I haue done to Shiloh.

15And I will cast you out of my sight, as I haue cast out all your brethren, euen the whole seed of Ephraim.

16Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift vp cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me, for I will not heare thee.

17 Seest thou not what they doe in the cities of Iudah, and in the streets of Ierusalem?

18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, & the women knead their dough to make cakes to the Queene of heauen, and to powre out drinke offerings vnto other gods, that they may prouoke me to anger.

19Doe they prouoke mee to anger, saith the Lord ? Doe they not prouoke themselues to the confusion of their owne faces?

20Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, mine anger and my furie shalbe powred out vpon this place, vpon man & vpon beast, and vpon the trees of the field, and vpon the fruit of the ground, and it shall burne, and shall not be quenched.

21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, Put your burnt offrings vnto your sacrifices, & eate flesh.

22For I spake not vnto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

23But this thing commaunded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I wil be your God, and ye shalbe my people: and walke ye in all the wayes that I haue commanded you, that it may be well vnto you.

24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their eare, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their euill heart, and went backward, and not forward.

25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt vnto this day, I haue euen sent vnto you all my seruants the Prophets, daily rising vp early, and sending them.

26Yet they hearkned not vnto me, nor inclined their eare, but hardened their neck, they did worse then their fathers.

27Therefore thou shalt speake all these wordes vnto them, but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call vnto them, but they will not answere thee.

28But thou shalt say vnto them; This is a nation, that obeyeth not the voyce of the Lord their God, nor receiueth correction: trueth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

29 Cut off thine haire, O Ierusalem, and cast it away, and take vp a lamentation on high places, for the Lord hath reiected, and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

30For the children of Iudah haue done euill in my sight, saith the Lord: they haue set their abominations in the house which is called by my Name, to pollute it.

31And they haue built the high places of Tophet which is in the valley of the sonne of Hinnom, to burne their sonnes and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

32 Therefore behold, the dayes come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the sonne of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

33And the carkeises of this people shall be meate for the fowles of the heauen, and for the beasts of the earth, and none shall fray them away.

34Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Iudah, and from the streets of Ierusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladnesse, the voice of the bridegroome, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

1 The following message came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2 Stand at the gate of the house of the LORD, and there proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD!

3 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place.

4 Put not your trust in the deceitful words: "This is the temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD! The temple of the LORD!"

5 Only if you thoroughly reform your ways and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his neighbor;

6 if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm,

7 will I remain with you in this place, in the land which I gave your fathers long ago and forever.

8 But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!

9 Are you to steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, go after strange gods that you know not,

10 and yet come to stand before me in this house which bears my name, and say: "We are safe; we can commit all these abominations again"?

11 Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves? I too see what is being done, says the LORD.

12 You may go to Shiloh, which I made the dwelling place of my name in the beginning. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 And now, because you have committed all these misdeeds, says the LORD, because you did not listen, though I spoke to you untiringly; because you did not answer, though I called you,

14 I will do to this house named after me, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh.

15 I will cast you away from me, as I cast away all your brethren, all the offspring of Ephraim.

16 You, now, do not intercede for this people; raise not in their behalf a pleading prayer! Do not urge me, for I will not listen to you.

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

18 The children gather wood, their fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven, while libations are poured out to strange gods in order to hurt me.

19 Is it I whom they hurt, says the LORD; is it not rather themselves, to their own confusion?

20 See now, says the Lord GOD, my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruits of the earth; it will burn without being quenched.

21 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Heap your holocausts upon your sacrifices; eat up the flesh!

22 In speaking to your fathers on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I gave them no command concerning holocaust or sacrifice.

23 This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.

24 But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

25 From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.

26 Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.

27 When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you.

28 Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.

29 Cut off your dedicated hair and throw it away! on the heights intone an elegy; For the LORD has rejected and cast off the generation that draws down his wrath.

30 The people of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes, says the LORD. They have defiled the house which bears my name by setting up in it their abominable idols.

31 In the Valley of Ben-hinnom they have built the high place of Topheth to immolate in fire their sons and their daughters, such a thing as I never commanded or had in mind.

32 Therefore, beware! days will come, says the LORD, when Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom will no longer be called such, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. For lack of space, Topheth will be a burial place.

33 The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the field, which no one will drive away.

34 In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem I will silence the cry of joy, the cry of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will be turned to rubble.

Chapters 7-10 is the message God told Jeremiah to speak from the temple gate to Judah’s outwardly religious people.

v 1-8. People speak of the temple three times in v 4 because they are trusting it ‘s presence instead of obeying the Lord. To them it was a good luck charm, just like the people took the ark to battle against the Philistines, 1 Sam. 4, and lost it. These people were to change their ways and to 1. Not oppress the poor 2. Not shed innocent blood 3. Not follow other gods. If they did that instead of trusting in the temple they would live.

v 9-16. This enlarges the idea that people did all sorts of wickedness thinking the temple would spare them, thus making it a den of robbers (Jesus quoted, Matt. 21:13). Problem at Shiloh was probably when Philistines took it and the ark, 1 Sam. 4:10-11. Ephraim, the northern kingdom, had already been cast out. Jeremiah need not pray for them any more because God would not listen. (7:16; 11:14; 14:11; 15:1 But we intercede unless we feel sure. Also heed Ps. 66:18 or God won’t hear.)

v 17-20. Whole families participated in providing cakes and drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven, Ishtar, or Ashtareth, goddess of immorality, 2 Ki. 23:13. They only harmed themselves, not God and incurred His wrath.

v 21-28. They were bringing the right sacrifices, but God originally asked them to obey. All the prophets urged them to obey, but they didn’t listen. Jeremiah was to warn of their disobedience, but they would not listen to him either.

v 29-34. Jeremiah was to cut his hair in mourning and sing a funeral dirge for the troubles that would come on the people. Topheth, burning, was in the valley of Hinnom where so many bodies were burned it became valley of slaughter, Gehenna (as hell).