Jeremiah 7 - Prayer Tents

Jeremiah Speaks at the Temple

7The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,H1697H3414H3068H559 2“Go to the entrance of the Lord’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the Lord! Listen to it, all of you who worship here!H5975H8179H3068H1004H7121H1697H559H8085H1697H3068H3063H935H8179H7812H3068 3This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H3190H1870H4611H7931H4725 4But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!”H982H8267H1697H559H1964H3068H1964H3068H1964H3068 5But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice;H3190H3190H1870H4611H6213H6213H4941H376H7453 6only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.H6231H1616H3490H490H8210H5355H1818H4725H3212H310H312H430H7451 7Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.H7931H4725H776H5414H1H5704H5769H5769 8“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie!H982H8267H1697H3276 9Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,H1589H7523H5003H7650H8267H6999H1168H1980H310H312H430H3045 10and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again?H935H5975H6440H1004H7121H8034H559H5337H6213H8441 11Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!H1004H7121H8034H4631H6530H5869H7200H5002H3068 12“‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites.H3212H4725H7887H7931H8034H7223H7200H6213H6440H7451H5971H3478 13While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer.H6213H4639H5002H3068H1696H7925H1696H8085H7121H6030 14So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.H6213H1004H7121H8034H982H4725H5414H1H6213H7887 15And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.’H7993H6440H7993H251H2233H669

Judah’s Persistent Idolatry

16“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you.H6419H5971H5375H7440H8605H1157H6293H8085 17Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?H7200H6213H5892H3063H2351H3389 18No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods!H1121H3950H6086H1H1197H784H802H3888H1217H6213H3561H4446H8064H5258H5262H312H430H3707 19Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”H3707H5002H3068H1322H6440 20So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.”H559H136H3069H639H2534H5413H4725H120H929H6086H7704H6529H127H1197H3518 21This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves!H559H3068H6635H430H3478H5595H5930H2077H398H1320 22When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.H1696H1H6680H3117H3318H776H4714H1697H5930H2077 23This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’H1697H6680H559H8085H6963H430H5971H1980H1870H6680H3190 24“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.H8085H5186H241H3212H4156H8307H7451H3820H268H6440 25From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out.H3117H1H3318H776H4714H3117H7971H5650H5030H3117H7925H7971 26But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.H8085H5186H241H7185H6203H7489H1 27“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.H1696H1697H8085H7121H6030 28Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.H559H1471H8085H6963H3068H430H3947H4148H530H6H3772H6310 29Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’H1494H5145H7993H5375H7015H8205H3068H3988H5203H1755H5678

The Valley of Slaughter

30“The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it.H1121H3063H6213H7451H5869H5002H3068H7760H8251H1004H7121H8034H2930 31They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!H1129H1116H8612H1516H1121H2011H8313H1121H1323H784H6680H5927H3820 32So beware, for the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them.H3117H935H5002H3068H559H8612H1516H1121H2011H1516H2028H6912H8612H369H4725 33The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away.H5038H5971H3978H5775H8064H929H776H2729 34I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation.H7673H5892H3063H2351H3389H6963H8342H6963H8057H6963H2860H6963H3618H776H2723