1The message that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
2"Stand at the gate of Yahweh's house and announce this message there. Say, 'Hear Yahweh's message, all you people of Judah, who come through these gates to worship Yahweh.'"
3Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, "Change your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place."
4Don't trust in deceptive words that say, 'This is Yahweh's temple, Yahweh's temple, Yahweh's temple.'
5Because if you truly change your ways and your actions; if you truly give fair justice between one person and another;
6if you don't oppress foreigners, orphans, and widows, and don't spill innocent blood in this place, and don't follow other gods to your own harm:
7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave to your ancestors, from ancient times and forevermore.
8Look, you trust in deceptive words that can't help you.
9Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods you have not known,
10and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are safe,' so you can do all these detestable things?
11Has this house, which is called by my name, become a hideout for robbers in your eyes? Look, I, myself, have seen it," says Yahweh.
12"But go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I first made my name live, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel."
13"Now, because you have done all these things," says Yahweh, "and I spoke to you persistently, but you didn't listen; and I called you, but you didn't answer:
14therefore, I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place I gave to you and to your ancestors, what I did to Shiloh."
15I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your relatives, all the descendants of Ephraim.
16"Therefore, don't pray for these people, don't cry out or pray for them, and don't plead with me; because I will not listen to you."
17Don’t you 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 dough to make cakes for the queen of the sky. They also pour out drink offerings to other gods, all to make me angry.
19Am I the one they are making angry? says Yahweh. “Aren’t they just bringing shame upon themselves?
20Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says: “Watch out! My anger and my fury will be poured out on this place—on people, on animals, on the trees of the field, and on the crops of the ground. It will burn, and nothing will be able to put it out.”
21Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves.
22Because when I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them about burnt offerings or sacrifices.
23Instead, I commanded them this: ‘Listen to my voice. If you do, I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk in the path I command you, so that things may go well for you.’
24But they did not listen or pay attention. Instead, they followed their own advice and the stubbornness of their evil hearts. They went backward, not forward.
25From the day your ancestors left Egypt until today, I have consistently sent all my servants, the prophets, to you.
26Yet, they didn’t listen to me or pay attention. They were stubborn and acted worse than their ancestors.
27“You will tell them all these words, but they will not listen to you. You will call out to them, but they will not answer you.
28You will tell them, ‘This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of Yahweh their God or accepted correction. Truth has vanished; it is no longer spoken by them.’
29Cut off your hair and throw it away. Grieve loudly on the barren heights, because Yahweh has rejected and abandoned the generation that has brought his anger.
30“For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight,” says Yahweh. “They have placed their disgusting idols in the house that is called by my name, defiling it.
31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. This is something I did not command, nor did it ever enter my mind.
32Therefore, watch out!” says Yahweh. “The days are coming when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury people in Topheth until there is no more room.
33The dead bodies of these people will become food for the birds of the sky and the wild animals, and no one will chase them away.
34Then I will silence the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bridegroom and the bride, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For the land will become a desolate wasteland.”