Jeremiah 7

New International Version

False Religion Worthless

7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand^(A) 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^(B) and your actions, and I will let you live^(C) in this place. ⁴Do not trust^(D) in deceptive^(E) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” ⁵If you really change^(F) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,^(G) ⁶if you do not oppress^(H) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood^(I) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods^(J) to your own harm, ⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land^(K) I gave your ancestors^(L) for ever and ever. ⁸But look, you are trusting^(M) in deceptive^(N) words that are worthless.

⁹“‘Will you steal^(O) and murder,^(P) commit adultery^(Q) and perjury,^[a]^(R) burn incense to Baal^(S) and follow other gods^(T) you have not known, ¹⁰and then come and stand^(U) before me in this house,^(V) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?^(W) ¹¹Has this house,^(X) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers^(Y) to you? But I have been watching!^(Z) declares the Lord.

¹²“‘Go now to the place in Shiloh^(AA) where I first made a dwelling^(AB) for my Name,^(AC) and see what I did^(AD) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. ¹³While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke^(AE) to you again and again,^(AF) but you did not listen;^(AG) I called^(AH) you, but you did not answer.^(AI) ¹⁴Therefore, what I did to Shiloh^(AJ) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,^(AK) the temple^(AL) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. ¹⁵I will thrust you from my presence,^(AM) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’^(AN)

¹⁶“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea^(AO) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen^(AP) 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.^(AQ) They pour out drink offerings^(AR) to other gods to arouse^(AS) my anger. ¹⁹But am I the one they are provoking?^(AT) declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?^(AU)

²⁰“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign^(AV) Lord says: My anger^(AW) and my wrath will be poured^(AX) 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.^(AY)

²¹“‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices^(AZ) and eat^(BA) the meat yourselves! ²²For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands^(BB) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,^(BC) ²³but I gave them this command:^(BD) Obey^(BE) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.^(BF) Walk in obedience to all^(BG) I command you, that it may go well^(BH) with you. ²⁴But they did not listen^(BI) or pay attention;^(BJ) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.^(BK) They went backward^(BL) and not forward. ²⁵From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again^(BM) I sent you my servants^(BN) the prophets.^(BO) ²⁶But they did not listen to me or pay attention.^(BP) They were stiff-necked^(BQ) and did more evil than their ancestors.’^(BR)

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

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

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰“‘The people of Judah have done evil^(CA) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols^(CB) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled^(CC) it. ³¹They have built the high places of Topheth^(CD) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(CE) to burn their sons and daughters^(CF) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.^(CG) 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,^(CH) for they will bury^(CI) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ³³Then the carcasses^(CJ) of this people will become food^(CK) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.^(CL) ³⁴I will bring an end to the sounds^(CM) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom^(CN) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,^(CO) for the land will become desolate.^(CP)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods

Jeremiah 8

New International Version

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^(A) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed^(B) 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^(C) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.^(D) They will not be gathered up or buried,^(E) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(F) ³Wherever I banish them,^(G) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,^(H) 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?^(I)
    When someone turns away,^(J) do they not return?
⁵Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;^(K)
    they refuse to return.^(L)
⁶I have listened^(M) attentively,
    but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent^(N) of their wickedness,
    saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course^(O)
    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^(P)
    the requirements of the Lord.

⁸“‘How can you say, “We are wise,
    for we have the law^(Q) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?
⁹The wise^(R) will be put to shame;
    they will be dismayed^(S) and trapped.^(T)
Since they have rejected the word^(U) of the Lord,
    what kind of wisdom^(V) do they have?
¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other men
    and their fields to new owners.^(W)
From the least to the greatest,
    all are greedy for gain;^(X)
prophets^(Y) and priests alike,
    all practice deceit.^(Z)
¹¹They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.^(AA)
¹²Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
    No, they have no shame^(AB) at all;
    they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
    they will be brought down when they are punished,^(AC)
says the Lord.^(AD)

¹³“‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
    There will be no grapes on the vine.^(AE)
There will be no figs^(AF) on the tree,
    and their leaves will wither.^(AG)
What I have given them
    will be taken^(AH) from them.^[a]’”

¹⁴Why are we sitting here?
    Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities^(AI)
    and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and given us poisoned water^(AJ) to drink,
    because we have sinned^(AK) against him.
¹⁵We hoped for peace^(AL)
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(AM)
¹⁶The snorting of the enemy’s horses^(AN)
    is heard from Dan;^(AO)
at the neighing of their stallions
    the whole land trembles.^(AP)
They have come to devour^(AQ)
    the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

¹⁷“See, I will send venomous snakes^(AR) among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,^(AS)
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁸You who are my Comforter^[b] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint^(AT) within me.
¹⁹Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:^(AU)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King^(AV) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused^(AW) my anger with their images,
with their worthless^(AX) foreign idols?”^(AY)

²⁰“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed,^(AZ) I am crushed;
    I mourn,^(BA) and horror grips me.
²²Is there no balm in Gilead?^(BB)
    Is there no physician^(BC) there?
Why then is there no healing^(BD)
    for the wound of my people?

Footnotes

Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.

Jeremiah 9

New International Version

9 ^[a]¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!^(A)
I would weep^(B) day and night
    for the slain of my people.^(C)
²Oh, that I had in the desert^(D)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,^(E)
    a crowd of unfaithful^(F) people.

³“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(G)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(H) me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴“Beware of your friends;^(I)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.^(J)
For every one of them is a deceiver,^[c]^(K)
    and every friend a slanderer.^(L)
⁵Friend deceives friend,^(M)
    and no one speaks the truth.^(N)
They have taught their tongues to lie;^(O)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶You^[d] live in the midst of deception;^(P)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine^(Q) and test^(R) them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
⁸Their tongue^(S) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,^(T)
    but in their hearts they set traps^(U) for them.^(V)
⁹Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge^(W) myself
    on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.^(X)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds^(Y) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

¹¹“I will make Jerusalem a heap^(Z) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;^(AA)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah^(AB)
so no one can live there.”^(AC)

¹²Who is wise^(AD) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

¹³The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.^(AE) ¹⁴Instead, they have followed^(AF) the stubbornness of their hearts;^(AG) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food^(AH) and drink poisoned water.^(AI) ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations^(AJ) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,^(AK) and I will pursue them with the sword^(AL) until I have made an end of them.”^(AM)

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(AN) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(AO)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(AP) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(AQ)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(AR)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(AS)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(AT) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(AU) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^(AV)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(AW)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(AX)
²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^(AY) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(AZ) me,
that I am the Lord,^(BA) who exercises kindness,^(BB)
    justice and righteousness^(BC) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

²⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh^(BD)— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^[e]^(BE) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^(BF) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^(BG)”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads