Jeremiah

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

1This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD.

2Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

2"Go stand in the gateway of the LORD's temple and announce this message there. Say: Listen to the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD.

3Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

3This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Change the way you live and the things you do, and I will let you stay in this place.

Note"LORD of hosts" means the LORD who commands armies. "Amend your ways" means change how you live, not just say you are sorry.

4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

4Do not trust lies. Do not keep chanting, 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.'

5For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

5You must really change the way you live and the things you do. You must treat each other fairly.

6If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:

6You must stop mistreating the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. You must stop killing innocent people here. You must stop following other gods, which only hurts you.

7Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

7If you do all that, I will let you stay in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors, forever and ever.

8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

8But look at you. You keep trusting lies that do you no good at all.

9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

9You steal, murder, and commit adultery. You make promises you never meant to keep. You burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you never knew.

10And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

10Then you come and stand in front of me in this house that bears my name, and say, 'We are safe!' Safe to keep doing all these disgusting things?

11Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.

11Has this house that bears my name become a robbers' hideout in your eyes? I have been watching, says the LORD.

12But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

12Go now to Shiloh, the place where I first made a home for my name. See what I did to it because my people Israel were so wicked.

13And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;

13You have done all these things, says the LORD. I spoke to you again and again, but you would not listen. I called you, but you would not answer.

14Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

14So I will do to this house what I did to Shiloh. It bears my name, and you trust it, and I gave this place to you and your ancestors.

15And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

15I will throw you out of my sight, just as I threw out all your relatives, the whole family of Ephraim.

16Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.

16So do not pray for these people. Do not cry out or beg for them. Do not plead with me for them, because I will not listen to you.

17Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.

18The children gather firewood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix the dough to bake cakes for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry.

NoteThe "Queen of Heaven" was a goddess worshiped by some people in Judah. A "drink offering" was wine poured out on the ground as a gift to a god.

19Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

19But am I really the one they are hurting? says the LORD. Are they not hurting themselves, and bringing shame on their own faces?

20Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

20So this is what the Lord GOD says: My anger and my fury will pour out on this place. It will fall on people and animals, on the trees and the crops. It will burn, and no one will put it out.

21Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

21This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, pile your burnt offerings on top of your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves.

22For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

22When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, burnt offerings and sacrifices were not what I mainly told them to bring.

23But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

23This is what I commanded them: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Live the way I have told you, so things will go well for you.

24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

24But they would not listen or pay attention. They followed the stubborn plans of their own evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.

25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:

25From the day your ancestors left Egypt until today, I have kept sending you my servants the prophets, again and again.

26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

26But they would not listen to me or pay attention. They were stubborn, and they did worse things than their ancestors did.

27Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.

27So tell them all these words, even though they will not listen to you. Call out to them, even though they will not answer.

28But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.

28Say to them: This is a nation that will not obey the voice of the LORD their God and will not accept correction. Truth is dead. It is gone from their lips.

29Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

29Cut off your hair, Jerusalem, and throw it away. Sing a funeral song on the bare hills, because the LORD has rejected and abandoned this generation He is angry with.

NoteCutting off your hair was a public sign of deep grief, the way people today might wear black to a funeral.

30For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.

30The people of Judah have done evil right in front of me, says the LORD. They have set up their disgusting idols in the house that bears my name, and made it filthy.

31And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.

31They have built the altars of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom, so they could burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I never commanded that. It never even entered my mind.

32Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

32So the days are coming, says the LORD, when no one will call it Topheth or the Valley of Hinnom anymore. They will call it the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no room left.

33And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.

33The dead bodies of these people will be food for the birds and the wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.

NoteIn the KJV, "meat" means food of any kind, not just animal flesh. "Fray them away" means scare them away.

34Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.

34I will put an end to the sounds of joy and laughter in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. The voices of the bride and groom will stop. The land will be empty ruins.