Jeremiah:7-8
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The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD ,
saying ,
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Stand in the gate of the LORD '
S house ,
and proclaim there this word ,
and say ,
Hear the word of the LORD ,
all ye of Judah ,
that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD .
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts ,
the God of Israel ,
Amend your ways and your doings ,
and I will cause you to dwell in this place .
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Trust ye not in lying words ,
saying ,
The temple of the LORD ,
The temple of the LORD ,
The temple of the LORD ,
are these .
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For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings ;
if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour ;
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If ye oppress not the stranger ,
the fatherless ,
and the widow ,
and shed not innocent blood in this place ,
neither walk after other gods to your hurt :
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Then will I cause you to dwell in this place ,
in the land that I gave to your fathers ,
for ever and ever .
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Behold ,
ye trust in lying words ,
that cannot profit .
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Will ye steal ,
murder ,
and commit adultery ,
and swear falsely ,
and burn incense unto Baal ,
and walk after other gods whom ye know not ;
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And come and stand before me in this house ,
which is called by my name ,
and say ,
We are delivered to do all these abominations ?
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Is this house ,
which is called by my name ,
become a den of robbers in your eyes ?
Behold ,
even I have seen it ,
saith the LORD .
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But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh ,
where I set my name at the first ,
and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel .
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And now ,
because ye have done all these works ,
saith the LORD ,
and I spake unto you ,
rising up early and speaking ,
but ye heard not ;
and I called you ,
but ye answered not ;
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Therefore will I do unto this house ,
which is called by my name ,
wherein ye trust ,
and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers ,
as I have done to Shiloh .
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And I will cast you out of my sight ,
as I have cast out all your brethren ,
even the whole seed of Ephraim .
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Therefore pray not thou for this people ,
neither lift up cry nor prayer for them ,
neither make intercession to me :
for I will not hear thee .
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Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ?
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The children gather wood ,
and the fathers kindle the fire ,
and the women knead their dough ,
to make cakes to the queen of heaven ,
and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods ,
that they may provoke me to anger .
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Do they provoke me to anger ?
saith the LORD :
do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces ?
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Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD ;
Behold ,
mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place ,
upon man ,
and upon beast ,
and upon the trees of the field ,
and upon the fruit of the ground ;
and it shall burn ,
and shall not be quenched .
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts ,
the God of Israel ;
Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices ,
and eat flesh .
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For I spake not unto your fathers ,
nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt ,
concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices :
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But this thing commanded I them ,
saying ,
Obey my voice ,
and I will be your God ,
and ye shall be my people :
and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you ,
that it may be well unto you .
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But they hearkened not ,
nor inclined their ear ,
but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart ,
and went backward ,
and not forward .
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Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets ,
daily rising up early and sending them :
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Yet they hearkened not unto me ,
nor inclined their ear ,
but hardened their neck :
they did worse than their fathers .
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Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them ;
but they will not hearken to thee :
thou shalt also call unto them ;
but they will not answer thee .
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But thou shalt say unto them ,
This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God ,
nor receiveth correction :
truth is perished ,
and is cut off from their mouth .
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Cut off thine hair ,
O Jerusalem ,
and cast it away ,
and take up a lamentation on high places ;
for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath .
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For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight ,
saith the LORD :
they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name ,
to pollute it .
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And they have built the high places of Tophet ,
which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom ,
to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire ;
which I commanded them not ,
neither came it into my heart .
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Therefore ,
behold ,
the days come ,
saith the LORD ,
that it shall no more be called Tophet ,
nor the valley of the son of Hinnom ,
but the valley of slaughter :
for they shall bury in Tophet ,
till there be no place .
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And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven ,
and for the beasts of the earth ;
and none shall fray them away .
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Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah ,
and from the streets of Jerusalem ,
the voice of mirth ,
and the voice of gladness ,
the voice of the bridegroom ,
and the voice of the bride :
for the land shall be desolate .
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At that time ,
saith the LORD ,
they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah ,
and the bones of his princes ,
and the bones of the priests ,
and the bones of the prophets ,
and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem ,
out of their graves :
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And they shall spread them before the sun ,
and the moon ,
and all the host of heaven ,
whom they have loved ,
and whom they have served ,
and after whom they have walked ,
and whom they have sought ,
and whom they have worshipped :
they shall not be gathered ,
nor be buried ;
they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth .
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And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family ,
which remain in all the places whither I have driven them ,
saith the LORD of hosts .
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Moreover thou shalt say unto them ,
Thus saith the LORD ;
Shall they fall ,
and not arise ?
shall he turn away ,
and not return ?
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Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding ?
they hold fast deceit ,
they refuse to return .
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I hearkened and heard ,
but they spake not aright :
no man repented him of his wickedness ,
saying ,
What have I done ?
every one turned to his course ,
as the horse rusheth into the battle .
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Yea ,
the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ;
and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming ;
but my people know not the judgment of the LORD .
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How do ye say ,
We are wise ,
and the law of the LORD is with us ?
Lo ,
certainly in vain made he it ;
the pen of the scribes is in vain .
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The wise men are ashamed ,
they are dismayed and taken :
lo ,
they have rejected the word of the LORD ;
and what wisdom is in them ?
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Therefore will I give their wives unto others ,
and their fields to them that shall inherit them :
for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness ,
from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely .
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For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly ,
saying ,
Peace ,
peace ;
when there is no peace .
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Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination ?
nay ,
they were not at all ashamed ,
neither could they blush :
therefore shall they fall among them that fall :
in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down ,
saith the LORD .
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I will surely consume them ,
saith the LORD :
there shall be no grapes on the vine ,
nor figs on the fig tree ,
and the leaf shall fade ;
and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them .
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Why do we sit still ?
assemble yourselves ,
and let us enter into the defenced cities ,
and let us be silent there :
for the LORD our God hath put us to silence ,
and given us water of gall to drink ,
because we have sinned against the LORD .
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We looked for peace ,
but no good came ;
and for a time of health ,
and behold trouble !
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The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan :
the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones ;
for they are come ,
and have devoured the land ,
and all that is in it ;
the city ,
and those that dwell therein .
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For ,
behold ,
I will send serpents ,
cockatrices ,
among you ,
which will not be charmed ,
and they shall bite you ,
saith the LORD .
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When I would comfort myself against sorrow ,
my heart is faint in me .
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Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country :
Is not the LORD in Zion ?
is not her king in her ?
Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images ,
and with strange vanities ?
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The harvest is past ,
the summer is ended ,
and we are not saved .
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For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt ;
I am black ;
astonishment hath taken hold on me .
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Is there no balm in Gilead ;
is there no physician there ?
why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ?
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Oh that my head were waters ,
and mine eyes a fountain of tears ,
that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people !