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JER EM IAH 8
page 673
Judah’s Persistent Idolatry
16 “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do
not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to
help them, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don’t
you see what they are doing throughout the
towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and
make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And
they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol
gods! 19 Am I the one they are hurting?” asks
the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to
their own shame.”
20 So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“I will pour out my terrible fury on this place.
Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.”
21 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them
yourselves! 22 When I led your ancestors out of
Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices
I wanted from them. 23 This is what I told them:
‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will
be my people. Do everything as I say, and all
will be well!’
24 “But my people would not listen to me. They
kept doing whatever they wanted, following
the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They
went backward instead of forward. 25 From the
day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have
continued to send my servants, the prophets—
day in and day out. 26 But my people have not
listened to me or even tried to hear. They have
been stubborn and sinful—even worse than
their ancestors.
27 “Tell them all this, but do not expect them
to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not
expect them to respond. 28 Say to them, ‘This is
the nation whose people will not obey the Lord
their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth
has vanished from among them; it is no longer
heard on their lips. 29 Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the
Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation
that has provoked his fury.’
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “The people of Judah have sinned before my
very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up
their abominable idols right in the Temple that
bears my name, defiling it. 31 They have built
pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in
the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn
their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never
commanded such a horrible deed; it never even
crossed my mind to command such a thing!
32 So beware, for the time is coming,” says the
Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer
8:7 The identification of some of these birds is uncertain.
be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom,
but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the
bodies in Topheth until there is no more room
for them. 33 The bodies of my people will be food
for the vultures and wild animals, and no one
will be left to scare them away. 34 I will put an
end to the happy singing and laughter in the
streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in
the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete
desolation.
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“In that day,” says the Lord, “the enemy
will break open the graves of the kings and
officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests,
prophets, and common people of Jerusalem.
2 They will spread out their bones on the ground
before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my
people have loved, served, and worshiped.
Their bones will not be gathered up again or
buried but will be scattered on the ground like
manure. 3 And the people of this evil nation who
survive will wish to die rather than live where I
will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,
have spoken!
Deception by False Prophets
4 “Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the
Lord says:
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“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up
again?
When they discover they’re on the wrong
road, don’t they turn back?
Then why do these people stay on their
self-destructive path?
Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to
turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
and will not turn around.
I listen to their conversations
and don’t hear a word of truth.
Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?
Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I
have done”?
No! All are running down the path of sin
as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
Even the stork that flies across the sky
knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and
the crane.*
They all return at the proper time
each year.
But not my people!
They do not know the Lord’s laws.
“‘How can you say, “We are wise because
we have the word of the Lord,”
when your teachers have twisted it by
writing lies?
These wise teachers will fall
into the trap of their own foolishness,