1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2‘Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: ‘ “Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,6if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors for ever and ever.8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.9‘ “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,[1] burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known,10and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’ – safe to do all these detestable things?11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.12‘ “Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.13While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.14Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors.15I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.”16‘So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.19But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?20‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place – on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land – and it will burn and not be quenched.21‘ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!22For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices,23but I gave them this command: obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.24But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backwards and not forwards.25From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.26But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.”27‘When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.28Therefore say to them, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.29‘ “Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
The valley of slaughter
30‘ “The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it.31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire – something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.32So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.33Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no-one to frighten them away.34I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.
1A message from the LORD came to Jeremiah. The LORD said,2‘Stand at the gate of my house. Announce my message to the people there. Say, ‘ “Listen to the LORD’s message, all you people of Judah. You always come through these gates to worship the LORD.3The God of Israel is speaking to you. He is the LORD who rules over all. He says, ‘Change the way you live and act. Then I will let you live in this place.4Do not trust in lies. Do not say, “This is the temple of the LORD! This is the temple of the LORD! This is the temple of the LORD!”5You must really change the way you live and act. Treat one another fairly.6Do not treat outsiders or widows badly in this place. Do not take advantage of children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. Do not worship other gods. That will only bring harm to you.7If you obey me, I will let you live in this place. It is the land I gave your people of long ago. It was promised to them for ever and ever.8But look! You are trusting in worthless lies.9‘ “ ‘You continue to steal and commit murder. You commit adultery. You tell lies in court. You burn incense to Baal. You worship other gods you didn’t know before.10Then you come and stand in front of me. You keep coming to this house where I have put my Name. You say, “We are safe.” You think you are safe when you do so many things I hate.11My Name is in this house. But you have made it a den for robbers! I have been watching you!’ announces the LORD.12‘ “ ‘Go now to the town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first made a home for my Name. See what I did to it because of the evil things my people Israel were doing.13I spoke to you again and again,’ announces the LORD. ‘I warned you while you were doing all these things. But you did not listen. I called out to you. But you did not answer.14So what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house where my Name is. It is the temple you trust in. It is the place I gave to you and your people of long ago.15But I will throw you out of my land. That is exactly what I did to the people of Ephraim. And they are your relatives.’ ”16‘Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. Do not beg me. I will not listen to you.17Don’t you see what they are doing? They are worshipping other gods in the towns of Judah. They are offering sacrifices to them in the streets of Jerusalem.18The children go out and gather wood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix the dough. They make flat cakes of bread to offer to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods. That makes me very angry.19But am I the one they are hurting?’ announces the LORD. ‘Aren’t they only harming themselves? They should be ashamed of it.’20So the LORD and King says, ‘I will pour out my burning anger on this place. It will strike people and animals alike. It will destroy the trees in the fields and the crops in your land. It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out.’21The LORD who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Go ahead! Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices. Eat the meat yourselves!22When I brought your people out of Egypt, I spoke to them. But I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices.23I also gave them another command. I said, “Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.”24But they did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. They went backwards and not forwards.25Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now.26But your people of long ago did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.27‘Jeremiah, when you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer.28So say to them, “You are a nation that has not obeyed the LORD your God. You did not pay attention when you were corrected. Truth has died out. You do not tell the truth anymore.” ’29The LORD says to the people of Jerusalem, ‘Cut off your hair. Throw it away. Sing a song of sadness on the bare hilltops. I am very angry with you. I have turned my back on you. I have deserted you.
The valley of death
30‘The people of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes,’ announces the LORD. ‘They have set up statues of their gods. They have worshipped them in the house where my Name is. They have made my house “unclean”. I hate those statues.31The people have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. There they worship other gods. And there they sacrifice their children in the fire. That is something I did not command. It did not even enter my mind.32So watch out!’ announces the LORD. ‘The days are coming when people will not call it Topheth anymore. And they will not call it the Valley of Ben Hinnom either. Instead, they will call it the Valley of Death. They will bury the dead bodies of some people in Topheth. But they will run out of room.33Then they will not be able to bury the bodies of other people there. So the bodies will become food for birds and wild animals. And no one will scare them away.34I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness. The voices of brides and grooms will not be heard anymore. There will be no sounds of joy in the towns of Judah. And there will be no joy in the streets of Jerusalem. The land will become a desert.