1 T he word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2 S tand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.

3 T hus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.

4 T rust not in the lying words, saying, This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.

5 F or if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly and truly execute justice between every man and his neighbor,

6 I f you do not oppress the transient and the alien, the fatherless, and the widow or shed innocent blood in or go after other gods to your own hurt,

7 T hen I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers to dwell in forever.

8 B ehold, you trust in lying words that cannot benefit.

9 W ill you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,

10 A nd come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, we are set free!—only to go on with this wickedness and these abominations?

11 H as this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes ? Behold, I Myself have seen it, says the Lord.

12 B ut go 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.

13 A nd now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,

14 T herefore will I do to this house (the temple), which is called by My Name and in which you trust, to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.

15 A nd I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole posterity of Ephraim.

16 T herefore do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I will not listen to or hear you.

17 D o you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18 T he children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger!

19 A m I the One Whom they provoke to anger? says the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own confusion and vexation and to their own shame?

20 T herefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.

21 T hus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh.

22 F or in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.

23 B ut this thing I did command them: Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people; and walk in the whole way that I command you, that it may be well with you.

24 B ut they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear, but followed the counsels and the stubborn promptings of their own evil hearts and minds, and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward.

25 S ince the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early and late.

26 Y et the people would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ears, but stiffened their necks and behaved worse than their fathers.

27 S peak all these words to them, but they will not listen to and obey you; also call to them, but they will not answer you.

28 Y et you shall say to them, This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or receive instruction and correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and have completely vanished from their mouths.

29 C ut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.

30 F or the children of Judah have done evil in My sight, says the Lord; they have set their abominations (extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things) in the house which is called by My Name to defile it.

31 A nd they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire —which I did not command, nor did it come into My mind or heart.

32 T herefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no more be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury in Topheth till there is no more room and no place else to bury.

33 A nd the dead bodies of this people will be meat for the fowls of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.

34 T hen 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 will become a waste.