Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD:

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2"Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and there call out this word: 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.

2"Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house and proclaim there this word and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the LORD!'"

3"'This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your actions, and I will allow you to live in this place.

3Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell 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."

4"Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, '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,

5"For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,

6if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves,

6if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin,

7I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever.

7then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.

8But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help.

8"Behold, you are trusting in deceptive words to no avail.

9"'Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known?

9"Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery and swear falsely, and offer sacrifices to Baal and walk after other gods that you have not known,

10Then do you come and stand before me in this house that bears my name and say, "We are rescued, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts"?

10then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered!'-- that you may do all these abominations?

11Has this house, which bears my name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it. This is the LORD's declaration.

11"Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your sight? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," declares the LORD.

12"'But return to my place that was at Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel.

12"But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness 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 again but you wouldn't listen, and I have called to you, but you wouldn't answer,

13"And now, because you have done all these things," declares the LORD, "and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you but you did not answer,

14what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that bears my name--the house in which you trust--the place that I gave you and your ancestors.

14therefore, I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

15I will banish you from my presence, just as I banished all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.'

15"I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, all the offspring of Ephraim.

16"As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not offer a cry or a prayer on their behalf, and do not beg me, for I will not listen to you.

16"As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you.

17Don't you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

17"Do you not see what they are doing 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, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods so that they provoke me to anger.

18"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me.

19But are they really provoking me?" This is the LORD's declaration. "Isn't it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?"

19"Do they spite Me?" declares the LORD. "Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?"

20Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look, my anger--my burning wrath--is about to be poured out on this place, on people and animals, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched."

20Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and on beast and on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched."

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,

21Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh.

22for when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offering and sacrifice.

22"For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.

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.'

23"But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'

24Yet they didn't listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward.

24"Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.

25Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants the prophets to you time and time again.

25"Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them.

26However, my people wouldn't listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.

26"Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers.

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.

27"You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but 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. Truth has perished--it has disappeared from their mouths.

28"You shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.

29Cut off the hair of your sacred vow and throw it away. Raise up a dirge on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and abandoned the generation under his wrath.'

29Cut off your hair and cast it away, And take up a lamentation on the bare heights; For the LORD has rejected and forsaken The generation of His wrath.'

30"For the Judeans have done what is evil in my sight." This is the LORD's declaration. "They have set up their abhorrent things in the house that bears my name in order to defile it.

30"For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight," declares the LORD, "they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it.

31They have built the high places of Topheth in Ben Hinnom Valley in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought.

31"They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.

32"Therefore, look, the days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when this place will no longer be called Topheth and Ben Hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place.

32"Therefore, behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place.

33The corpses of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land, with no one to scare them away.

33"The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.

34I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and gladness and the voices of the groom and the bride, for the land will become a desolate waste.

34"Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

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