Jeremiah’s Message at the Temple Gate 2 WBS Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. BSB BSB: “Stand in the gate of the house of the LORD and proclaim this message: Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the LORD.
3 WBS Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. BSB BSB: Thus says the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel: Correct your ways and deeds, and I will let you live in this place.
4 WBS Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. BSB BSB: Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
5 WBS For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; BSB BSB: For if you really correct your ways and deeds, if you act justly toward one another,
6 WBS If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:BSB BSB: if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,
7 WBS Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. BSB BSB: then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 WBS Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. BSB BSB: But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
9 WBS Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; BSB BSB: Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
10 WBS And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? BSB BSB: and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are delivered, so we can continue with all these abominations’?
12 WBS But go ye now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. BSB BSB: But 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.
13 WBS And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spoke to you, rising early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; BSB BSB: And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and because I have spoken to you again and again but you would not listen, and I have called to you but you would not answer,
14 WBS Therefore will I do to this house, which is called by my name, in which ye trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. BSB BSB: therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.
15 WBS And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. BSB BSB: And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
Judah’s Idolatry Persists 16 WBS Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. BSB BSB: As for you, do not pray for these people, do not offer a plea or petition on their behalf, and do not beg Me, for I will not listen to you.
17 WBS Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? BSB BSB: Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 WBS The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings to other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. BSB BSB: The sons gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; they pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger.
19 WBS Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? BSB BSB: But am I the One they are provoking? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves they spite, to their own shame?
20 WBS Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, my anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the produce of the land, and it will burn and not be extinguished.
21 WBS Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!
22 WBS For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt-offerings or sacrifices: BSB BSB: For when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt, I did not merely command them about burnt offerings and sacrifices,
23 WBS But this thing I commanded them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well to you. BSB BSB: but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.
24 WBS But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. BSB BSB: Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.
25 WBS Since the day that your fathers came forth from the land of Egypt to this day I have even sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending them : BSB BSB: From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again.
26 WBS Yet they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers. BSB BSB: Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.
27 WBS Therefore thou shalt speak all these words to them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call to them; but they will not answer thee. BSB BSB: When you tell them all these things, they will not listen to you. When you call to them, they will not answer.
28 WBS But thou shalt say to them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth hath perished, and is cut off from their mouth. BSB BSB: Therefore you must say to them, ‘This is the nation that would not listen to the voice of the LORD their God and would not receive correction. Truth has perished; it has disappeared from their lips.
29 WBS Cut off thy hair, O Jerusalem , and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. BSB BSB: Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
The Valley of Slaughter 32 WBS Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there shall be no place. BSB BSB: So behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. For they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
33 WBS And the carcasses of this people shall be food for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall frighten them away. BSB BSB: The corpses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to scare them away.
34 WBS Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. BSB BSB: I will remove from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.”
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