Jeremiah 7:1-11

Jeremiah 7:1-11 Amplified Bible (AMP)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand 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 by these gates to worship the LORD.’ ” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Change your ways and your behavior, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in the deceptive and lying words [of the false prophets who claim that Jerusalem will be protected by God because of the temple], saying, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ For if you thoroughly change your ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the transient and the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood [by oppression and by unjust judicial murders] in Jerusalem, nor follow after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever. “Behold, you are trusting in deceptive and useless words that bring no benefit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear [oaths] falsely, offer sacrifices or burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods that you have not known, and [then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, ‘We are protected and set free [by this act of religious ritual]!’—only to go on with this wickedness and these disgusting and loathsome things? Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it,” says the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:1-11 The Message (MSG)

The Message from GOD to Jeremiah: “Stand in the gate of GOD’s Temple and preach this Message. “Say, ‘Listen, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship GOD. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, has this to say to you: “‘Clean up your act—the way you live, the things you do—so I can make my home with you in this place. Don’t for a minute believe the lies being spoken here—“This is GOD’s Temple, GOD’s Temple, GOD’s Temple!” Total nonsense! Only if you clean up your act (the way you live, the things you do), only if you do a total spring cleaning on the way you live and treat your neighbors, only if you quit exploiting the street people and orphans and widows, no longer taking advantage of innocent people on this very site and no longer destroying your souls by using this Temple as a front for other gods—only then will I move into your neighborhood. Only then will this country I gave your ancestors be my permanent home, my Temple. “‘Get smart! Your leaders are handing you a pack of lies, and you’re swallowing them! Use your heads! Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with the neighborhood wives, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods, and buy every novel religious commodity on the market—and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, “We’re safe!” thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? A cave full of criminals! Do you think you can turn this Temple, set apart for my worship, into something like that? Well, think again. I’ve got eyes in my head. I can see what’s going on.’” GOD’s Decree!

Jeremiah 7:1-11 New Century Version (NCV)

This is the word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah: “Stand at the gate of the Temple and preach this message there: “ ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of the nation of Judah! All you who come through these gates to worship the LORD, listen to this message! This is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Change your lives and do what is right! Then I will let you live in this place. Don’t trust the lies of people who say, “This is the Temple of the LORD. This is the Temple of the LORD. This is the Temple of the LORD!” You must change your lives and do what is right. Be fair to each other. You must not be hard on strangers, orphans, and widows. Don’t kill innocent people in this place! Don’t follow other gods, or they will ruin your lives. If you do these things, I will let you live in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. “ ‘But look, you are trusting lies, which is useless. Will you steal and murder and be guilty of adultery? Will you falsely accuse other people? Will you burn incense to the god Baal and follow other gods you have not known? If you do that, do you think you can come before me and stand in this place where I have chosen to be worshiped? Do you think you can say, “We are safe!” when you do all these hateful things? This place where I have chosen to be worshiped is nothing more to you than a hideout for robbers. I have been watching you, says the LORD.

Jeremiah 7:1-11 New Living Translation (NLT)

The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go to the entrance of the LORD’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the LORD! Listen to it, all of you who worship here! This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the LORD’s Temple is here. They chant, “The LORD’s Temple is here! The LORD’s Temple is here!” But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. “‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Jeremiah 7:1-11 The Passion Translation (TPT)

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.