Jeremiah 7

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

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

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 at the gate of the LORD's house. Say this message out loud there. Say: Listen to the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah. You come in 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 Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says. Change your ways and the things you do. Then I will let you keep living in this place.

NoteThe KJV says "the LORD of hosts." Here "hosts" means armies, so the title means the LORD who commands armies.

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 words that are not true. Do not keep chanting, 'This is the LORD's temple, the LORD's temple, the LORD's temple.' The temple was the special house where people came to worship God.

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 your ways and the things you do. You must be fair to each other.

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:

6Stop being unkind to foreigners, to children with no father, and to women whose husbands have died. Stop killing people who have done nothing wrong here. Stop following other gods, which only brings you harm.

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 keep living in this place. It is the land I gave to your fathers long ago, forever and ever.

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

8But look at you. You keep trusting words that are not true. Those words cannot help you 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;

9Will you steal, and kill, and break your marriage promises? Will you lie when you promise to tell the truth? Will you burn incense to Baal, a false god? Will you follow other gods you do not even know?

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 will you come and stand in front of me in this house? This house is called by my name. Will you say, 'We are safe,' so you can keep doing these terrible 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.

11Do you think this house, called by my name, is a hideout for robbers? I have seen what you do, 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 put my name. Look at what I did to it. I did it because my people Israel did wicked things.

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 to you, but you did 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. This house is called by my name, and you trust in it. I gave this place to you and to your fathers.

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 send you away from me. I did the same thing to your relatives, all the people 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, Jeremiah. Do not cry out or beg me to help them. 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? Do you not see it 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 wood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix dough to bake cakes for the Queen of Heaven, a false goddess. They pour out drink offerings to other gods. All of this makes me angry.

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. They are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves.

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 will pour out on this place. It will come on people and animals, on trees and on 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 Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says. Go ahead and pile up all your offerings together. Then eat the meat yourselves.

NoteThe KJV says "eat flesh." In 1611 "flesh" here simply meant meat, the food from an animal.

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 fathers out of Egypt, I gave them commands. I did not speak to them only about burnt offerings and sacrifices.

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 told them: Obey my voice. Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you. Then 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 did not listen. They would not turn their ears to me. They followed the stubborn, evil wishes of their own 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 fathers left Egypt until today, I kept sending my servants the prophets. A prophet is someone who tells people what God says. I sent them 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 did not listen to me. They would not turn their ears to me. They were stubborn. They did worse things than their fathers 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 say all these words to them, Jeremiah. But they will not listen to you. Call out to them, but they will not answer you.

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.

28So say to them: This nation does not obey the voice of the LORD their God. They will not learn when they are corrected. Truth is gone. It has disappeared from their mouths.

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. Go up on the bare hills and sing a sad song. The LORD has turned away from these people he is angry with.

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 things in my sight, says the LORD. They put their disgusting idols in the house called by my name. They made my house dirty.

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 built worship places at Topheth, in the Valley of Hinnom. There they burned their sons and daughters in the fire. I never told them to do this. It never even came into 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. This place will not be called Topheth or the Valley of Hinnom anymore. It will be called the Valley of Killing. They will bury the dead at 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 in the sky and the wild animals. No one will be there to chase the animals away.

NoteThe KJV says the bodies will be "meat" for the birds, and no one will "fray them away." Back then "meat" meant any kind of food, and "fray away" meant to scare 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 stop the happy sounds in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. The glad voices will end, and so will the voices of the bride and the groom. The land will be left empty."