Jeremiah 7:21-34

“This is what YAHWEH, God of Israel, Commander of Angel Armies says: ‘You might as well eat all your burnt offerings yourselves. For when I led your ancestors out of Egypt, I did not command them to bring me burnt offerings and sacrifices. Rather, I commanded them: “Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Live your lives according to what I command you that all may go well with you.” But they did not listen or obey. They followed their own stubborn plans of their evil hearts. They disrespected me and went backward, not forward. From the day that I led your ancestors out of Egypt until now, I have persistently sent you my servants the prophets, but my people did not listen to me or obey; rather, they stubbornly did more evil than their fathers.’ “And when you tell them all this, they will not hear you. You will call to them, but they won’t respond to you. Then you will say to them: ‘You are the nation that refused to listen to the voice of your God, YAHWEH. Truth has perished and disappeared from their lips, for they did not accept YAHWEH’s correction.’ ” “People of Jerusalem, cut off your long hair and throw it away, and raise your song of mourning on the hilltops, for YAHWEH has rejected and abandoned the generation of his fury. For YAHWEH says: ‘The people of Judah have done what is evil before my eyes. They have defiled the house that bears my name by placing their detestable idols inside it. And in the Hinnom Valley, they have built shrines of Topheth to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it ever enter my thoughts. Therefore, the time is coming, says YAHWEH, when it will not be known as Topheth or the Hinnom Valley but the Valley of Slaughter, for people will bury their dead in Topheth until no room is left. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals with no one to frighten them away. I will silence the sounds of mirth and gladness from the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, the happy sounds of wedding feasts—the voice of the bride and bridegroom, for the land will become a wasteland.’ ”