Jeremiah 7

1The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,

1This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

2Stand in the gate of Jehovah’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Jehovah.

2Stand at the entrance of the LORD’s temple and announce this message: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.’

3Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

3This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Change your ways and your actions, and I will let you stay in this place.’

4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these.

4Do not trust in deceptive words, thinking that because this is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, you are safe.

5For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor;

5If you truly change your ways and your actions, and if you truly treat each other with justice;

6if ye oppress not the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your own hurt:

6if you stop mistreating the foreigners, orphans, and widows; if you stop killing innocent people in this place; and if you stop following other gods to your own harm;

7then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even for evermore.

7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors long ago to keep forever.

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

8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,

9Do you think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie under oath, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods you have not known,

10and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?

10and then come and stand before me in this house that bears my Name and say, “We are safe”—only to keep on doing all these disgusting things?

11Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.

11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a hideout for robbers in your eyes? I have been watching you, says the LORD.

12But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

12Go now to my place in Shiloh, where I first made a home for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

13And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:

13The LORD says: Because you have done all these things, and even though I spoke to you again and again, you did not listen; and when I called you, you did not answer;

14therefore will I do unto the 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 did to Shiloh.

14therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name—the house you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors.

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

15I will throw you out of my sight, just as I threw out all your relatives, the people of Ephraim.

16Therefore 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.

16As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry out or plead for them, and do not beg me to help them, because I will not listen to you.

17Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

17Don't you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the 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.

18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fires, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the "Queen of Heaven." They pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry.

19Do they provoke me to anger? saith Jehovah; do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces?

19But am I the one they are really hurting? asks the LORD. Aren't they actually hurting themselves, bringing shame on their own faces?

20Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, mine anger and my wrath 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.

20Therefore, the Lord GOD says: My hot anger will be poured out on this place—on people and animals, on the trees of the field and the crops of the ground. It will burn like a fire that cannot be put out.

21Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat ye flesh.

21This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!

22For 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:

22When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.

23but this thing I commanded them, saying, Hearken unto my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and walk ye in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.

23This is what I commanded them: “Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, so that things will go well for you.”

24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

24But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead, they followed their own stubborn and evil desires. They went backward instead of forward.

25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

25From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have sent my servants the prophets to you again and again, day after day.

26yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.

26But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stubborn and did even worse things than their ancestors.

27And 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.

27When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer.

28And thou shalt say unto them, This is the nation that hath not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah their God, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

28So say to them: “This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or accepted correction. Truth is dead; it has disappeared from their lips.”

29Cut off thy hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Jehovah hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

29Shave your head in mourning, Jerusalem, and throw your hair away. Sing a funeral song on the bare hilltops, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation that has made him so angry.

30For the children of Judah have done that which is evil in my sight, saith Jehovah: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

30The people of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD. They have set up their disgusting idols in the house that bears my Name, polluting it.

31And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded not, neither came it into my mind.

31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded and that never even entered my mind.

32Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.

32So watch out, the days are coming, says the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.

33And the dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away.

33The bodies of these people will be food for the birds and the wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away.

34Then 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 become a waste.

34I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of brides and grooms in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become a total wasteland.