New Living Translation | Christian Standard Bible |
1The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, | 1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: |
2“Go to the entrance of the LORD’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the LORD! Listen to it, all of you who worship here! | 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. |
3This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. | 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. |
4But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the LORD’s Temple is here. They chant, “The LORD’s Temple is here! The LORD’s Temple is here!” | 4Do not trust deceitful words, chanting, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD." |
5But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; | 5Instead, if you really correct your ways and your actions, if you act justly toward one another, |
6only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. | 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, |
7Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. | 7I will allow you to live in this place, the land I gave to your ancestors long ago and forever. |
8“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! | 8But look, you keep trusting in deceitful words that cannot help. |
9Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, | 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 here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? | 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"? |
11Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken! | 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. |
12“‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites. | 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. |
13While you were doing these wicked things, says the LORD, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to 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, |
14So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. | 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. |
15And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel. ’ Judah’s Persistent Idolatry | 15I will banish you from my presence, just as I banished all of your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.' |
16“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to 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. |
17Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns 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? |
18No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods! | 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. |
19Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the LORD. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.” | 19But are they really provoking me?" This is the LORD's declaration. "Isn't it they themselves being provoked to disgrace?" |
20So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.” | 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." |
21This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! | 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, |
22When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. | 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. |
23This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’ | 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.' |
24“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. | 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. |
25From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out. | 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. |
26But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors. | 26However, my people wouldn't listen to me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors. |
27“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond. | 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. |
28Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the LORD their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips. | 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. |
29Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the LORD has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’ The Valley of Slaughter | 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.' |
30“The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the LORD. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it. | 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. |
31They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! | 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. |
32So beware, for the time is coming,” says the LORD, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them. | 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. |
33The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare 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. |
34I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation. | 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. |
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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