f[See ver. 5 above]
g[See ver. 5 above]
n[See ver. 6 above]
q[See ver. 10 above]
y[See ver. 10 above]
z[See ver. 12 above]
aa[See ver. 14 above]
ay[See ver. 24 above]
bo[See ver. 31 above]
bp[See ver. 31 above]

Jeremiah 7

Evil in the Land

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 aStand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: bAmend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 cDo not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

5For if you truly damend your ways and your deeds, if you truly eexecute justice one with another, 6if you fdo not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, gor shed innocent blood in this place, hand if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 ithen I will let you dwell in this place, jin the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

8Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 kWill you steal, murder, commit adultery, lswear falsely, mmake offerings to Baal, nand go after other gods that you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, owhich is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 pHas this house, qwhich is called by my name, rbecome a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12Go now to smy place that was in Shiloh, twhere I made my name dwell at first, and usee what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and vwhen I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and wwhen I called you, you did not answer, 14therefore I will do to xthe house ythat is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, zas I did to Shiloh. 15 aaAnd I will cast you out of my sight, abas I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of acEphraim.

16“As for you, addo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, aeand the women knead dough, to afmake cakes for agthe queen of heaven. And ahthey pour out drink offerings to other gods, aito provoke me to anger. 19 ajIs it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, akto their own shame? 20Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, almy anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; amit will burn and not be quenched.”

21Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: anAdd your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. 22For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them aoconcerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23But this command I gave them: apObey my voice, and aqI will be your God, and you shall be my people. arAnd walk in all the way that I command you, asthat it may be well with you.’ 24 atBut they did not obey or incline their ear, aubut walked in their own counsels and avthe stubbornness of their evil hearts, and awwent backward and not forward. 25From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, axI have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 ayYet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, azbut stiffened their neck. baThey did worse than their fathers.

27 bb“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. bcYou shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; bdtruth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

29 be“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;
raise a lamentation on bfthe bare heights,
for the Lord has rejected and forsaken
the generation of his wrath.’

The Valley of Slaughter

30For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set bgtheir detestable things in the house bhthat is called by my name, to bidefile it. 31And they have built the high places of bjTopheth, which is in bkthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, blto burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, bmwhich I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 bnTherefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called boTopheth, or bpthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; bqfor they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 brAnd the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, bsand none will frighten them away. 34 btAnd I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, bufor the land shall become a waste.

Jeremiah 21

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him bvPashhur the son of Malchiah and bwZephaniah the priest, the son of bxMaaseiah, saying, 2 byInquire of the Lord for us, bzfor Nebuchadnezzar
Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of  Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency
king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to cball his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

3Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, 4Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ccBehold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. cdAnd I will bring them together into the midst of this city. 5I myself will fight against you cewith outstretched hand and strong arm, cfin anger and in fury and in great wrath. 6And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. 7Afterward, declares the Lord, cgI will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. chHe shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

8“And to this people you shall say: ciThus says the Lord: Behold, cjI set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9He who stays in this city shall die ckby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and clsurrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live cmand shall have his life as a prize of war. 10For cnI have set my face against this city for harm and conot for good, declares the Lord: cpit shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

11“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

cq“‘Execute justice crin the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
cslest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’”
13 ctBehold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
O rock of the plain,

declares the Lord;
you who say, cuWho shall come down against us,
or who shall enter our habitations?’
14 cvI will punish you according to cwthe fruit of your deeds,

declares the Lord;
cxI will kindle a fire in her forest,
cyand it shall devour all that is around her.”
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