1.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying:
2.
Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say; Hearken to the word of the Lord, all Judah who come into these gates to prostrate yourselves before the Lord.
3.
So said the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Improve your ways and your deeds, I will allow you to dwell in this place.
4.
Do not rely on false words, saying: The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord are they.
5.
For if you improve your ways and your deeds, if you perform judgment between one man and his fellowman,
6.
[if] you do not oppress a stranger, an orphan, or a widow, and you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not follow other gods for your detriment,
7.
I will allow you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave your forefathers from days of yore to eternity.
8.
Behold, you rely on false words, of no avail.
9.
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, offer up to Baal, and follow other gods that you know not,
10.
And will you come and stand before Me in this house, upon which My name is called, and say, "We are saved," in order to commit all these abominations?
11.
Has this house upon which My name is called, become a cave of profligate men in your eyes? I, too, behold I have seen it, says the Lord.
12.
For go now to My place that is in Shiloh, where I caused My name to rest at first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
13.
And now, because you have committed all these acts, says the Lord, and I spoke to you, going early and speaking, but you did not hearken, and I called you, but you did not respond.
14.
And I will do to the house upon which My name is called, upon which you rely, and to the place that I gave you and your forefathers, as I did to Shiloh.
15.
And I will cast you away from My presence as I cast all your brothers, all the seed of Ephraim.
16.
And you, pray not on behalf of this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer, and entreat Me not for I will not hear you.
17.
Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18.
The sons are gathering wood, the fathers are kindling fire, and the women are kneading dough to make starshaped cakes for the queen of the heaven and to pour libations to other gods, in order to provoke Me.
19.
Are they provoking Me? says the Lord. Are [they] not [provoking] themselves for the shame of their faces?
20.
Therefore, so says the Lord God: Behold, My wrath and My fury reaches this place, upon man and upon beast, upon the trees of the field and upon the produce of the soil, and it shall burn and not be quenched.
21.
So says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel; Add your burnt offerings upon your sacrifices and eat flesh.
22.
For neither did I speak with your forefathers nor did I command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice.
23.
But this thing did I command them, saying: Obey Me so that I am your God and you are My people, and you walk in all the ways that I command you, so that it may be well with you.
24.
But they did not obey nor did they incline their ear, but walked according to [their] own counsels and in the view of their evil heart, and they went backwards and not forwards.
25.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt until this day, I sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them day [after day] with every fresh morn.
26.
Yet they hearkened not to Me nor did they incline their ear, but stiffened their necks; they did worse than their fathers.
27.
And when you will speak all of these words to them and they will not hearken to you, and you call to them and they will not answer you,
28.
Then say to them: This is the nation that did not hear the voice of the Lord their God and has not received correction; out of their mouth faithfulness has disappeared, yea rooted out!
29.
So tear off your diadem and cast it off, and let lamentation sound out over the hillocks, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned the generation of His wrath.
30.
For the sons of Judah have done what is evil in My eyes, says the Lord; they placed their abominations in the house upon which My name is called, to pollute it.
31.
And they have built the high places of Topheth which are in the valley of Ben- Hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters with fire, which I did not ordain, neither did it enter My mind.
32.
Therefore, behold days are coming, says the Lord, that it shall no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, and they shall bury in Topheth for lack of room.
33.
And the carcasses of this people shall be for food for the fowl of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth, and no one will frighten them.
34.
And I will stop from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of mirth and the sound of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall be desolate.
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