Jeremiah 7:1-15

This is the message that YAHWEH gave to Jeremiah. “Go stand at the gate of YAHWEH’s house and proclaim this word: ‘Hear this word from YAHWEH, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship him. Here’s what the God of Israel, YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, says: Change your ways and start living right, and I will let you dwell in this land. Don’t fool yourselves by trusting the deceptive words, saying: “The temple of YAHWEH is here, the temple of YAHWEH is here, the temple of YAHWEH is here, so we are safe.” For if you truly change your ways and start living right, if you deal justly with one another, if you don’t mistreat the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow, if you don’t shed innocent blood in this land, if you stop your self-destructive ways of chasing after other gods, then I will let you dwell in this place, here in the land that I gave to your forefathers for all time. “ ‘Look, you keep putting your trust in worthless lies. You think you can steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand in my presence? You think you can come into this house called by my name and say, “We are safe!”—only to keep doing all these disgusting things? Do you really consider this house that bears my name to be a robbers’ den? I know everything that you have been doing! I, YAHWEH, have spoken. “ ‘Just go to the place where my sanctuary once stood in Shiloh, where I first made a dwelling place for my name. And when you see its rubble, understand what I did in response to the wickedness of the people of Israel. Even while you were doing these things, I, YAHWEH, spoke to you over and over and called to you, but you would neither listen nor answer me. So I will do to this temple what I did before in Shiloh. You have put your trust in this temple, which bears my name, but I will destroy this very sanctuary that I gave to you and your ancestors. And I will cast you away from my presence as I cast away all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.’ ”