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Jeremiah 7
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Chapter 7
7. ORACLES MAINLY IN THE REIGN OF JEHOIAKIM
a. Against the Temple
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The word that was addressed to Jeremiah by Yahweh,
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‘Go and stand at the gate of the Temple of Yahweh and there proclaim this message. Say, “Listen to the word of Yahweh, all you men of Judah who come in by these gates to worship Yahweh.
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Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: Amend your behaviour and your actions and I will stay with you here in this place.
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Put no trust in delusive words like these: This is the sanctuary of Yahweh, the sanctuary of Yahweh, the sanctuary of Yahweh!
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But if you do amend your behaviour and your actions, if you treat each other fairly,
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if you do not exploit the stranger, the orphan and the widow (if you do not shed innocent blood in this place), and if you do not follow alien gods, to your own ruin,
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then here in this place I will stay with you, in the land that long ago I gave to your fathers for ever.
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Yet here you are, trusting in delusive words, to no purpose!
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Steal, would you, murder, commit adultery, perjure yourselves, burn incense to Baal, follow alien gods that you do not know? –
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and then come presenting yourselves in this Temple that bears my name, saying: Now we are safe – safe to go on committing all these abominations!
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Do you take this Temple that bears my name for a robbers’ den? I, at any rate, am not blind – it is Yahweh who speaks.
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Now go to my place in Shiloh[*a] where at first I gave my name a home; see what I have done to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel!
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And now, since you have committed all these sins – it is Yahweh who speaks – and have refused to listen when I spoke so urgently, so persistently, or to answer when I called you,
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I will treat this Temple that bears my name, and in which you put your trust, and the place I have given to you and your ancestors, just as I treated Shiloh.
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I will drive you out of my sight, as I drove all your kinsmen, the entire race of Ephraim.”
b. Alien gods
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‘You, for your part, must not intercede for this people, nor raise either plea or prayer on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.
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Cannot you see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
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The children collect the wood, the fathers light the fire, the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven ;[*b] and, to spite me, they pour libations to alien gods.
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Is it really me they spite – it is Yahweh who speaks – is it not in fact themselves, to their own confusion?
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Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: My anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, over man and beast, trees of the countryside, fruits of the soil; it shall burn, and not be quenched.
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‘Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this: Add your holocausts to your sacrifices and eat all the meat.
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For when I brought.your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I said nothing to them, gave them no orders, about holocaust and sacrifice.
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These were my orders: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Follow right to the end the way that I mark out for you, and you will prosper.
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But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed the dictates of their own evil hearts, refused to face me, and turned their backs on me.
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From the day your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until today, day after day I have persistently sent you all my servants the prophets.
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But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have grown stubborn and behaved worse than their ancestors.
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You may say all these words to them: they will not listen to you; you may call them: they will not answer.
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So tell them this, “Here is the nation that will not listen to the voice of Yahweh its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.
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“Cut off your tresses, throw them down. On the bare heights raise a dirge. For Yahweh has rejected, has abandoned, a brood that he detests.”
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‘Yes, the sons of Judah have done what displeases me – it is Yahweh who speaks. They have put their abominations in the Temple that bears my name, to defile it;
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they have built the high place of Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to burn their sons and daughters; a thing I never commanded, a thing that never entered my thoughts.
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So now the days are coming – it is Yahweh who speaks – when people will no longer talk of Topheth or of the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but of the Valley of Slaughter. Topheth will become a burial ground, for lack of other space;
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the corpses of this people will feed the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to drive them away.
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I will silence the shouts of rejoicing and mirth, the voices of bridegroom and bride, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, for the whole land will be reduced to desert.
Chapters of Jeremiah
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
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