Jeremiah

29 {They are like a worker who tried to make
silver pure.}
The bellowsa blew strongly, and the fire
became hotter,
but only lead came from the fire. b
JEREMIAH 6:29
The worker wasted his time
trying to make that silver pure.
In the same way the evil was not removed
from my people.
30 My people will be called ‘Rejected Silver.’
They will be given that name
because the Lord did not accept them.”
Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon
7 1This is the Lord’s message to Jeremiah:
2“Jeremiah, stand at the gate of the Lord’s
house. Teach this message at the gate:
“‘Hear the message from the Lord, all you
people of the nation of Judah.* All you who
come through these gates to worship the
Lord, hear this message. 3The Lord is the
God of the people of Israel.* This is what the
Lord All-Powerful says: Change your lives
and do good things. If you do this, I will let
you live in this place. c 4Don’t trust the lies
that some people say. They say, “This is the
Temple* of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord,
the Temple of the Lord! d” 5If you change your
lives and do good things, I will let you live in
this place. You must be fair to each other. 6You
must be fair to strangers. You must help widows
and orphans. Don’t kill innocent people!
And don’t follow other gods, because they
will only ruin your lives. 7If you obey me, I
will let you live in this place. I gave this land
to your ancestors* for them to keep forever.
8“‘But you are trusting lies that are worthless.
9Will you steal and murder? Will you
commit adultery*? Will you falsely accuse
other people? Will you worship the false god
Baal* and follow other gods that you have not
known? 10If you commit these sins, do you
think that you can stand before me in this
house that is called by my name? Do you
think you can stand before me and say, “We
are safe,” just so you can do all these terrible
things? 11This Temple is called by my name.
Is this Temple nothing more to you than a
hideout for robbers? I have been watching
you.’” This message is from the Lord.
12“‘You people of Judah, go now to the
town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first
a 6:29 bellows A tool for blowing air on a fire to
make the fire hotter.
b 6:29 lead came from the fire Workers melted met‑
als like silver to make the metals pure. Lead was the
first metal to melt, so the workers poured the lead
out, leaving the other metal pure. Here, Jeremiah is
saying the people are all bad—they are all lead and
no silver!
c 7:3 I will … place This can also mean “I will live
with you.”
d 7:4 This is … Lo r d Many people in Jerusalem
thought the Lord would always protect the city
where his Temple was, so it didn’t matter how evil
they were.
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made a house for my name. The people of
Israel also did evil things. Go and see what I
did to that place because of the evil they did. e
13You people of Israel were doing all these
evil things. This message is from the Lord! I
spoke to you again and again, but you refused
to listen to me. I called to you, but you did not
answer. 14So I will destroy the house called
by my name in Jerusalem. I will destroy that
Temple as I destroyed Shiloh. And that house
in Jerusalem that is called by my name is the
Temple you trust in. I gave that place to you
and to your ancestors. 15I will throw you away
from me just as I threw away all your brothers
from Ephraim.*’
16“As for you, Jeremiah, don’t pray for
these people of Judah. Don’t beg for them or
pray for them. Don’t beg me to help them.
I will not listen to your prayer for them. 17I
know you see what they are doing in the
towns of Judah. You can see what they are
doing in the streets of the city of Jerusalem.
18This is what the people of Judah are doing:
The children gather wood. The fathers use
the wood to make a fire. The women make
the dough and then make cakes of bread to
offer to the Queen of Heaven.* The people
of Judah pour out drink offerings to worship
other gods. They do this to make me angry.
19But I am not the one they are really hurting.”
This message is from the Lord. “They
are only hurting themselves. They are bringing
shame on themselves.”
20So this is what the Lord says: “I will
show my anger against this place. I will punish
people and animals. I will punish the trees
in the field and the crops that grow in the
ground. My anger will be like a hot fire—no
one will be able to stop it.”
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice
21This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the
God of Israel,* says: “Go and offer as many
burnt offerings* and sacrifices as you want.
Eat the meat of those sacrifices yourselves. 22I
brought your ancestors* out of Egypt. I spoke
to them, but I did not give them any commands
about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23I
only gave them this command: ‘Obey me and
I will be your God, and you will be my people.
Do all that I command, and good things will
happen to you.’
24“But your ancestors did not listen to me.
They did not pay attention to me. They were
stubborn and did what they wanted to do.
They did not become good. They became even
more evil—they went backward, not forward.
25From the day that your ancestors left Egypt
to this day, I have sent my servants to you.
My servants are the prophets.* I sent them to
you again and again. 26But your ancestors did
e 7:12 Go … they did Shiloh was probably destroyed
by the Philistines in the time of Eli and Samuel. See
1 Sam. 4.