Jeremiah 7
7The LORD sent me to the gate of the Temple where the people of Judah went in to worship.H1697H3414H3068H5592He told me to stand there and announce what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, had to say to them:H5975H8179H3068H1004H7121H1697H559H8085H1697H3068H3063H935H8179H7812H30683"Change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and I will let you go on living here.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H3190H1870H4611H7931H47254Stop believing those deceitful words, 'We are safe! This is the LORD's Temple, this is the LORD's Temple, this is the LORD's Temple!'H982H8267H1697H559H1964H3068H1964H3068H1964H30685"Change the way you are living and stop doing the things you are doing. Be fair in your treatment of one another.H3190H3190H1870H4611H6213H6213H4941H376H74536Stop taking advantage of aliens, orphans, and widows. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop worshiping other gods, for that will destroy you.H6231H1616H3490H490H8210H5355H1818H4725H3212H310H312H430H74517If you change, I will let you go on living here in the land which I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.H7931H4725H776H5414H1H5704H5769H57698"Look, you put your trust in deceitful words.H982H8267H1697H32769You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before.H1589H7523H5003H7650H8267H6999H1168H1980H310H312H430H304510You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand in my presence, in my own Temple, and say, 'We are safe!'H935H5975H6440H1004H7121H8034H559H5337H6213H844111Do you think that my Temple is a hiding place for robbers? I have seen what you are doing.H1004H7121H8034H4631H6530H5869H7200H5002H306812Go to Shiloh, the first place where I chose to be worshiped, and see what I did to it because of the sins of my people Israel.H3212H4725H7887H7931H8034H7223H7200H6213H6440H7451H5971H347813You have committed all these sins, and even though I spoke to you over and over again, you refused to listen. You would not answer when I called you.H6213H4639H5002H3068H1696H7925H1696H8085H7121H603014And so, what I did to Shiloh I will do to this Temple of mine, in which you trust. Here in this place that I gave to your ancestors and you, I will do the same thing that I did to Shiloh.H6213H1004H7121H8034H982H4725H5414H1H6213H788715I will drive you out of my sight as I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel. I, the LORD, have spoken."H7993H6440H7993H251H2233H66916The LORD said, "Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.H6419H5971H5375H7440H8605H1157H6293H808517Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?H7200H6213H5892H3063H2351H338918The children gather firewood, the men build fires, and the women mix dough to bake cakes for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out offerings of wine to other gods, in order to hurt me.H1121H3950H6086H1H1197H784H802H3888H1217H6213H3561H4446H8064H5258H5262H312H430H370719But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves.H3707H5002H3068H1322H644020And so I, the Sovereign LORD, will pour out my fierce anger on this Temple. I will pour it out on people and animals alike, and even on the trees and the crops. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out.H559H136H3069H639H2534H5413H4725H120H929H6086H7704H6529H127H1197H351821"My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the LORD, say is that you might as well eat them all.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H5595H5930H2077H398H132022I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt.H1696H1H6680H3117H3318H776H4714H1697H5930H207723But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.H1697H6680H559H8085H6963H430H5971H1980H1870H6680H319024But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better.H8085H5186H241H3212H4156H8307H7451H3820H268H644025From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets.H3117H1H3318H776H4714H3117H7971H5650H5030H3117H7925H797126Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.H8085H5186H241H7185H6203H7489H127"So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer.H1696H1697H8085H7121H603028You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the LORD their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about.H559H1471H8085H6963H3068H430H3947H4148H530H6H3772H631029"Mourn, people of Jerusalem; cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a funeral song on the hilltops, because I, the LORD, am angry and have rejected my people.H1494H5145H7993H5375H7015H8205H3068H3988H5203H1755H567830"The people of Judah have done an evil thing. They have placed their idols, which I hate, in my Temple and have defiled it.H1121H3063H6213H7451H5869H5002H3068H7760H8251H1004H7121H8034H293031In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this - it did not even enter my mind.H1129H1116H8612H1516H1121H2011H8313H1121H1323H784H6680H5927H382032And so, the time will come when it will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. They will bury people there because there will be nowhere else to bury them.H3117H935H5002H3068H559H8612H1516H1121H2011H1516H2028H6912H8612H369H472533The corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them off.H5038H5971H3978H5775H8064H929H776H272934The land will become a desert. In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the happy sounds of wedding feasts.H7673H5892H3063H2351H3389H6963H8342H6963H8057H6963H2860H6963H3618H776H2723
Columbus, OH
