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False Religion Worthless
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
Jeremiah Speaks at the Temple
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
“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.
“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.
“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!
This 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.
This 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.
“‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land.
Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!”
But 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!”
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,
But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice;
if 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,
only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.
then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.
Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.
But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie!
Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,
and 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?
and 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?
Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
Don’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!
“ ‘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.
“‘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.
While 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.
While 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.
Therefore, 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.
So 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.
I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’
“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.
Judah’s Persistent Idolatry
“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.
Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The 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.
No 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!
But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the LORD. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”
“ ‘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.
So 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.”
“ ‘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!
This 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!
For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.
but 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.
This 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!’
But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
“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.
From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets.
From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets — day in and day out.
But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’
But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful — even worse than their ancestors.
“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.
“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.
Therefore 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.
Say 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.
“ ‘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.
Shave 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
“ ‘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.
“ ‘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.
The Valley of Slaughter
“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.
They 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.
They 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!
So 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.
So 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.
Then 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.
The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away.
I 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.
I 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.