False Trust in the Temple
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
3“‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your actions,7:3 Jr 4:18; 18:11; 26:13 and I will allow you to live in this place.
4Do not trust deceitful words, chanting, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”
5Instead, if you really correct your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another,7:5 Lit justly between a man and his neighbor7:5 Jr 22:3
6if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow7:6 Dt 19:10,13; 21:8–9; 2Kg 21:16; 24:4; Jr 22:3,17; 26:15; Mt 27:4 and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves,
7I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors7:7 Gn 12:7; Jos 1:2; Jr 30:3 long ago and forever.
8But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.
9“‘Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?7:9 Ex 20:3–17; Lv 19:11–12; Dt 5:7–21; Ezk 18:5–9,14–18; 22:6–12; Hs 4:2
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Shiloh as a Warning
12“‘But return to my place that was at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first.7:12 Dt 12:11; 14:23; 16:6,11 See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.
13Now, because you have done all these things — this is the Lord’s declaration — and because I have spoken to you time and time again7:13 Lit you rising early and speaking but you wouldn’t listen,7:13 Jr 7:25; 11:7; 25:3; 26:5; 29:19; 32:33; 35:14–15; 44:4 and I have called to you, but you wouldn’t answer,7:13 Pr 1:24; Is 65:12
Do Not Pray for Judah
16“As for you, do not pray for these people.7:16 Jr 11:14; 14:11–12; 15:1 Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me,7:16 Gn 23:8; Ru 1:16; Jr 27:18 for I will not listen to you.7:16 Ex 32:11–13,20–34; Jr 14:11; 15:1
17Don’t you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven,7:18 = a pagan goddess7:18 Jr 44:17–19,25 and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke me to anger.
Obedience over Sacrifice
21This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves,7:21 Dt 12:4–28; Ps 50:13; Hs 8:13
22for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them7:22 Hs 6:6 or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice.
23However, I did give them this command: ‘Obey me, and then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you.’ 7:23 Dt 5:33
24Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention7:24 Ps 81:11 but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward.7:24 Jr 15:6
A Lament for Disobedient Judah
27“When you speak all these things to them, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer you.
28Therefore, declare to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the Lord their God and would not accept discipline. Truth7:28 Or Faithfulness has perished — it has disappeared from their mouths.
30“For the Judeans have done what is evil in my sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their abhorrent things7:30 Jr 4:1; 16:18; 32:34 in the house that bears my name in order to defile it.7:30 2Kg 23:24
31They have built the high places of Topheth7:31 Lit of the fireplace7:31 2Kg 23:10; Jr 19:6,11–14 in Ben Hinnom Valley7:31 A valley south of Jerusalem7:31 Jos 15:8; Jr 19:5; 32:35 in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire,7:31 Lv 18:21; Dt 12:31; 2Kg 17:17,31; 2Ch 28:3; Jr 19:5; Ezk 16:21; 20:31; 23:25,37,47 a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.
32“Therefore, look, the days are coming”7:32 Jr 16:14; 19:6; 23:5; 48:12; 49:2; 51:47,52 — the Lord’s declaration — “when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley.7:32 Jr 19:6 Topheth will become a cemetery,7:32 Lit They will bury in Topheth because there will be no other burial place.
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