Jeremiah 6:15-8:7

New International Version

¹⁵Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.^(A)
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when I punish^(B) them,”
says the Lord.

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,^(C)
ask where the good way^(D) is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest^(E) for your souls.
    But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
¹⁷I appointed watchmen^(F) over you and said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’^(G)
    But you said, ‘We will not listen.’^(H)
¹⁸Therefore hear, you nations;
    you who are witnesses,
    observe what will happen to them.
¹⁹Hear, you earth:^(I)
    I am bringing disaster^(J) on this people,
    the fruit of their schemes,^(K)
because they have not listened to my words^(L)
    and have rejected my law.^(M)
²⁰What do I care about incense from Sheba^(N)
    or sweet calamus^(O) from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;^(P)
    your sacrifices^(Q) do not please me.”^(R)

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“I will put obstacles before this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble^(S) over them;
neighbors and friends will perish.”

²²This is what the Lord says:

“Look, an army is coming
    from the land of the north;^(T)
a great nation is being stirred up
    from the ends of the earth.^(U)
²³They are armed with bow and spear;
    they are cruel and show no mercy.^(V)
They sound like the roaring sea^(W)
    as they ride on their horses;^(X)
they come like men in battle formation
    to attack you, Daughter Zion.^(Y)”

²⁴We have heard reports about them,
    and our hands hang limp.^(Z)
Anguish^(AA) has gripped us,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(AB)
²⁵Do not go out to the fields
    or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
    and there is terror on every side.^(AC)
²⁶Put on sackcloth,^(AD) my people,
    and roll in ashes;^(AE)
mourn with bitter wailing^(AF)
    as for an only son,^(AG)
for suddenly the destroyer^(AH)
    will come upon us.

²⁷“I have made you a tester^(AI) of metals
    and my people the ore,
that you may observe
    and test their ways.
²⁸They are all hardened rebels,^(AJ)
    going about to slander.^(AK)
They are bronze and iron;^(AL)
    they all act corruptly.
²⁹The bellows blow fiercely
    to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining^(AM) goes on in vain;
    the wicked are not purged out.
³⁰They are called rejected silver,^(AN)
    because the Lord has rejected them.”^(AO)

False Religion Worthless

7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand^(AP) at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:

“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. ³This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways^(AQ) and your actions, and I will let you live^(AR) in this place. ⁴Do not trust^(AS) in deceptive^(AT) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” ⁵If you really change^(AU) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,^(AV) ⁶if you do not oppress^(AW) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood^(AX) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods^(AY) to your own harm, ⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land^(AZ) I gave your ancestors^(BA) for ever and ever. ⁸But look, you are trusting^(BB) in deceptive^(BC) words that are worthless.

⁹“‘Will you steal^(BD) and murder,^(BE) commit adultery^(BF) and perjury,^[a]^(BG) burn incense to Baal^(BH) and follow other gods^(BI) you have not known, ¹⁰and then come and stand^(BJ) before me in this house,^(BK) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?^(BL) ¹¹Has this house,^(BM) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers^(BN) to you? But I have been watching!^(BO) declares the Lord.

¹²“‘Go now to the place in Shiloh^(BP) where I first made a dwelling^(BQ) for my Name,^(BR) and see what I did^(BS) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke^(BT) to you again and again,^(BU) but you did not listen;^(BV) I called^(BW) you, but you did not answer.^(BX) ¹⁴Therefore, what I did to Shiloh^(BY) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,^(BZ) the temple^(CA) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. ¹⁵I will thrust you from my presence,^(CB) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’^(CC)

¹⁶“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea^(CD) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen^(CE) to you. ¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven.^(CF) They pour out drink offerings^(CG) to other gods to arouse^(CH) my anger. ¹⁹But am I the one they are provoking?^(CI) declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?^(CJ)

²⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign^(CK) Lord says: My anger^(CL) and my wrath will be poured^(CM) out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.^(CN)

²¹“‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices^(CO) and eat^(CP) the meat yourselves! ²²For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands^(CQ) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,^(CR) ²³but I gave them this command:^(CS) Obey^(CT) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.^(CU) Walk in obedience to all^(CV) I command you, that it may go well^(CW) with you. ²⁴But they did not listen^(CX) or pay attention;^(CY) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.^(CZ) They went backward^(DA) and not forward. ²⁵From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again^(DB) I sent you my servants^(DC) the prophets.^(DD) ²⁶But they did not listen to me or pay attention.^(DE) They were stiff-necked^(DF) and did more evil than their ancestors.’^(DG)

²⁷“When you tell^(DH) them all this, they will not listen^(DI) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.^(DJ) ²⁸Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.^(DK) Truth^(DL) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.

²⁹“‘Cut off^(DM) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament^(DN) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned^(DO) this generation that is under his wrath.

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰“‘The people of Judah have done evil^(DP) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols^(DQ) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled^(DR) it. ³¹They have built the high places of Topheth^(DS) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(DT) to burn their sons and daughters^(DU) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.^(DV) ³²So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,^(DW) for they will bury^(DX) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³Then the carcasses^(DY) of this people will become food^(DZ) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^(EA) ³⁴I will bring an end to the sounds^(EB) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom^(EC) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,^(ED) for the land will become desolate.^(EE)

8 “‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones^(EF) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed^(EG) from their graves. ²They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served^(EH) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.^(EI) They will not be gathered up or buried,^(EJ) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(EK) ³Wherever I banish them,^(EL) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,^(EM) declares the Lord Almighty.’

Sin and Punishment

⁴“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?^(EN)
    When someone turns away,^(EO) do they not return?
⁵Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;^(EP)
    they refuse to return.^(EQ)
⁶I have listened^(ER) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent^(ES) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course^(ET)
    like a horse charging into battle.
⁷Even the stork in the sky
    knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
    observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know^(EU)
    the requirements of the Lord.