7. 1 The
Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2
"Go to the entrance of the Lord's Temple, and give this message to the
people£º 'O Judah, listen to this message from the Lord! Listen to it, all of
you who worship here! 3 This is
what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says£º "'Even now, if
you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. 4 But
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!" 5 But I
will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start
treating each other with justice; 6 only if
you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your
murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. 7 Then I
will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. 8
"'Don't be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the
Temple is here. It's a lie! 9 Do you
really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to
Baal and all those other new gods of yours, 10 and
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? 11 Don'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! 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. 13 While
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. 14 So
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. 15 And I
will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the
people of Israel.' 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. 17 Don't
you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of
Jerusalem? 18 No
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! 19 Am I
the one they are hurting?" asks the Lord. "Most of all, they hurt
themselves, to their own shame." 20 So
this is what the Sovereign Lord says£º "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." 21 This
is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says£º "Take your
burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! 22 When I
led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I
wanted from them. 23 This
is what I told them£º 'Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my
people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!' 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. 25 From
the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my
servants, the prophets - day in and day out. 26 But my
people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn
and sinful - even worse than their ancestors. 27
"Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your
warnings, but do not expect them to respond. 28 Say 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. 29 Shave
your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has
rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.' 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. 31 They
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! 32 So
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. 33 The
bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will
be left to scare them away. 34 I 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. 8. 1
"In that day," says the Lord, "the enemy will break open the
graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests,
prophets, and common people of Jerusalem. 2 They
will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars - the
gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be
gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure. 3 And the
people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where
I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven's Armies, have spoken! 4
"Jeremiah, say to the people, 'This is what the Lord says£º "'When
people fall down, don't they get up again? When they discover they're on the
wrong road, don't they turn back? 5 Then
why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of
Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not
turn around. 6 I
listen to their conversations and don't hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry
for doing wrong? Does anyone say, "What a terrible thing I have
done"? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse
galloping into battle! 7 Even
the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the
turtledove, the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each
year. But not my people! They do not know the Lord's laws. 8
"'How can you say, "We are wise because we have the word of the
Lord," when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies? 9 These
wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have
rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all? 10 I will
give their wives to others and their farms to strangers. From the least to the
greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. Yes, even my prophets and priests are
like that. They are all frauds. 11 They
offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound. They give assurances
of peace when there is no peace. 12 Are
they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all - they don't even know how
to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought
down when I punish them, says the Lord. 13 I will
surely consume them. There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes. Their
fruit trees will all die. Whatever I gave them will soon be gone. I, the Lord,
have spoken!' 14
"Then the people will say, 'Why should we wait here to die? Come, let's go
to the fortified towns and die there. For the Lord our God has decreed our
destruction and has given us a cup of poison to drink because we sinned against
the Lord. 15 We
hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found
only terror.' 16
"The snorting of the enemies' warhorses can be heard all the way from the
land of Dan in the north! The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land
tremble. They are coming to devour the land and everything in it - cities and
people alike. 17 I will
send these enemy troops among you like poisonous snakes you cannot charm. They
will bite you, and you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken!" 18 My
grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken. 19 Listen
to the weeping of my people; it can be heard all across the land. "Has the
Lord abandoned Jerusalem?" the people ask. "Is her King no longer
there?" "Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols
and their worthless foreign gods?" says the Lord. 20
"The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone," the people cry,
"yet we are not saved!" 21 I hurt
with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief. 22 Is
there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no
healing for the wounds of my people? 9. 1 If only
my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day
and night for all my people who have been slaughtered. 2 Oh,
that I could go away and forget my people and live in a travelers' shack in the
desert. For they are all adulterers - a pack of treacherous liars. 3
"My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand
up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,"
says the Lord. 4
"Beware of your neighbor! Don't even trust your brother! For brother takes
advantage of brother, and friend slanders friend. 5 They
all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues
they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning. 6 They
pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me," says the Lord. 7
Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says£º "See, I will
melt them down in a crucible and test them like metal. What else can I do with
my people? 8 For
their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows. They speak friendly words to
their neighbors while scheming in their heart to kill them. 9 Should
I not punish them for this?" says the Lord. "Should I not avenge
myself against such a nation?" 10 I will
weep for the mountains and wail for the wilderness pastures. For they are
desolate and empty of life; the lowing of cattle is heard no more; the birds and
wild animals have all fled. 11
"I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins," says the Lord. "It
will be a place haunted by jackals. The towns of Judah will be ghost towns,
with no one living in them." 12 Who is
wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can
explain it to others? Why has the land been so ruined that no one dares to
travel through it? 13 The
Lord replies, "This has happened because my people have abandoned my
instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. 14
Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the
images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. 15 So
now, this is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says£º Look!
I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. 16 I will
scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard
of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them
completely." 17 This
is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says£º "Consider all this, and call
for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals. 18 Quick!
Begin your weeping! Let the tears flow from your eyes. 19 Hear
the people of Jerusalem crying in despair, 'We are ruined! We are completely
humiliated! We must leave our land, because our homes have been torn
down.'" 20
Listen, you women, to the words of the Lord; open your ears to what he has to
say. Teach your daughters to wail; teach one another how to lament. 21 For
death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has
killed off the flower of our youth£º Children no longer play in the streets,
and young men no longer gather in the squares. 22 This
is what the Lord says£º "Bodies will be scattered across the fields like
clumps of manure, like bundles of grain after the harvest. No one will be left
to bury them." 23 This
is what the Lord says£º "Don't let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the
powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. 24 But
those who wish to boast should boast in this alone£º that they truly know me
and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who
brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these
things. I, the Lord, have spoken! 25
"A time is coming," says the Lord, "when I will punish all those
who are circumcised in body but not in spirit -
26 the
Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in
remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan
nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts."