| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, | 1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from 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 in at these gates to worship the LORD!’ ” | 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. |
| 3Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. | 3"This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Correct your ways and your deeds, and I will allow you to live in this place. |
| 4Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ | 4Do not trust deceitful words, chanting: This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD. |
| 5“For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, | 5Instead, if you really change your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, |
| 6if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, | 6if you no longer oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow and no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods, bringing harm on yourselves, |
| 7then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. | 7I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever. |
| 8“Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. | 8But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help. |
| 9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, | 9"Do you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known? |
| 10and then 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 do you come and stand before Me in this house called by My name and say, 'We are delivered, so we can continue doing all these detestable acts? |
| 11Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. | 11Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your view? Yes, I too have seen it." This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 12“But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. | 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. |
| 13And now, because you have done all these works,” says 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, | 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, |
| 14therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. | 14what I did to Shiloh I will do to the house that is called by My name--the house in which you trust--the place that I gave you and your ancestors. |
| 15And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren—the whole posterity of Ephraim. | 15I will drive you from My presence, just as I drove out all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim. |
| 16“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you. | 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. |
| 17Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? | 17Don't you see how they behave in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? |
| 18The children gather wood, 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, that they may provoke Me to anger. | 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. |
| 19Do they provoke Me to anger?” says the LORD. “Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?” | 19But are they really provoking Me?" This is the LORD's declaration. "Isn't it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?" |
| 20Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.” | 20Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: "Look, My anger--My burning wrath--is about to be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the tree of the field, and on the produce of the land. My wrath will burn and not be quenched." |
| 21Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat meat. | 21This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves, |
| 22For 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 or sacrifices. | 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. |
| 23But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.’ | 23However, I did give them this command: Obey Me, and then I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must follow every way I command you so that it may go well with you. |
| 24Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but followed the counsels and the dictates of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. | 24Yet they didn't listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward. |
| 25Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. | 25Since the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent all My servants the prophets to you time and time again. |
| 26Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers. | 26However, they wouldn't listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors. |
| 27“Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you. | 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. |
| 28“So you shall say to them, ‘This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. | 28You must therefore declare to them: This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not accept discipline. Truth has perished--it has disappeared from their mouths. |
| 29Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’ | 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. |
| 30For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the LORD. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. | 30"For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight." This is the LORD's declaration. "They have set up their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and defiled it. |
| 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 did not command, nor did it come into My heart. | 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom in order to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, a thing I did not command; I never entertained the thought. |
| 32“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. | 32"Therefore, take note! Days are coming"--the LORD's declaration--"when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. Topheth will become a cemetery, because there will be no other burial place. |
| 33The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. | 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. |
| 34Then I will 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 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. |
|
