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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 7

Jeremiah 7: the temple sermon, Shiloh and the valley of slaughter

General context

The word comes to Jeremiah to stand in the gate of the Lord's house and address all of Judah who enter to worship. The Lord tells them to amend their ways and not to trust the lying words, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord. If they execute judgment, do not oppress the stranger, fatherless and widow, and do not shed innocent blood or follow other gods, they will dwell in the land. He asks whether they will steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely and burn incense to Baal, then stand in his house and say they are delivered to do these abominations. He asks whether the house called by his name has become a den of robbers, and sends them to see what he did to Shiloh. Because they did not hear, he will do to this house as he did to Shiloh and cast them out as he cast out the seed of Ephraim. He forbids Jeremiah to pray for the people. He points to children gathering wood, fathers kindling fire and women kneading dough for cakes to the queen of heaven. He tells them to eat their burnt offerings, because at the exodus he commanded obedience, not sacrifice, and they went backward though he sent the prophets daily. Jerusalem is told to cut off her hair and lament, for the Lord has rejected the generation of his wrath. Judah has built the high places of Tophet in the valley of the son of Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, which he never commanded. The days come when it will be called the valley of slaughter, carcases will feed fowls and beasts, and the voices of mirth, bridegroom and bride will cease.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 7:1, Jeremiah 7:2, Jeremiah 7:3, Jeremiah 7:4, Jeremiah 7:5, Jeremiah 7:6, Jeremiah 7:7, Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 7:10, Jeremiah 7:11, Jeremiah 7:12, Jeremiah 7:13, Jeremiah 7:14, Jeremiah 7:15, Jeremiah 7:16, Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 7:20, Jeremiah 7:21, Jeremiah 7:22, Jeremiah 7:23, Jeremiah 7:24, Jeremiah 7:25, Jeremiah 7:27, Jeremiah 7:28, Jeremiah 7:29, Jeremiah 7:30, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 7:32, Jeremiah 7:33, Jeremiah 7:34

Jeremiah 7 (KJV)

1The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

2Stand 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.

3Thus 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.

4Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.

5For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;

6If 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:

7Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

8Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.

9Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;

10And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?

11Is 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.

12But 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.

13And 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;

14Therefore 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.

15And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.

16Therefore 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.

17Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

18The 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.

19Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?

20Therefore 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.

21Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.

22For 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:

23But 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.

24But 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.

25Since 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:

26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.

27Therefore 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.

28But 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.

29Cut 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.

30For 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.

31And 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.

32Therefore, 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.

33And 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.

34Then 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The chapter is introduced in the third person, "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord," and the setting is stated: the gate of the Lord's house, with the hearers being "all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord." No king or year is given. The Lord cites Shiloh as "my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first," and says he did something to it "for the wickedness of my people Israel," without narrating what; he also says he has cast out "the whole seed of Ephraim." The sacrifice to the queen of heaven is described by its family labour, children, fathers and women, and the text does not further identify her. Tophet is located "in the valley of the son of Hinnom," and the burning of sons and daughters there is stated plainly as something the Lord "commanded them not." The prohibition of intercession, "pray not thou for this people," is addressed to Jeremiah alone. The threefold "The temple of the Lord" is quoted as the people's own "lying words." The Lord's claim in verse 22 that he did not command burnt offerings in the day of the exodus is stated as his own word; the text explains it by verse 23, that the command was to obey his voice. The chapter ends with future judgment and reports no response from the hearers.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 7:1, Jeremiah 7:2, Jeremiah 7:4, Jeremiah 7:12, Jeremiah 7:14, Jeremiah 7:15, Jeremiah 7:16, Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah 7:22, Jeremiah 7:23, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 7:32, Jeremiah 7:34

Literary context

The sermon is built on the phrase "this house, which is called by my name," repeated in verses 10, 11 and 14 and echoed in verse 30, and set against the people's slogan, repeated three times in one verse. The conditions of verses 5 through 7 are balanced against the list of crimes in verse 9, so that the same acts appear once as what must stop and once as what is being done. Shiloh is introduced by a command to go and see, then used as the pattern for what will happen here. The narrator emphasizes hearing and answering: the Lord "spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not," and the prophet will "speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken." Verses 21 through 23 turn the order of the argument around, from the crimes done in the house to the purpose of the house, obedience rather than sacrifice. The chapter darkens by stages: from a den of robbers to Shiloh, from cakes for the queen of heaven to children burned in Tophet, from the house to the valley of slaughter. It ends with silence, the ceasing of the voices of mirth, bridegroom and bride, a phrase that the book returns to later.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 7:4, Jeremiah 7:5, Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 7:10, Jeremiah 7:11, Jeremiah 7:12, Jeremiah 7:13, Jeremiah 7:14, Jeremiah 7:21, Jeremiah 7:23, Jeremiah 7:27, Jeremiah 7:30, Jeremiah 7:31, Jeremiah 7:32, Jeremiah 7:34

Key moments

  1. Stand in the gate (Jeremiah 7:2). Jeremiah is sent to the gate of the Lord's house to address those entering to worship.
  2. The temple of the Lord, three times (Jeremiah 7:4). The Lord calls the people's slogan lying words.
  3. A den of robbers (Jeremiah 7:11). The Lord asks whether his house has become a den of robbers in their eyes.
  4. Go to Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:12). The Lord sends them to see what he did to the place where he first set his name.
  5. Pray not for this people (Jeremiah 7:16). The Lord forbids Jeremiah to intercede.
  6. Cakes to the queen of heaven (Jeremiah 7:18). Children, fathers and women share in offerings to other gods.
  7. The valley of slaughter (Jeremiah 7:32). Tophet, where sons and daughters were burned, will be filled with burial.

For reflection

The people say, We are delivered to do all these abominations, and stand in the house called by the Lord's name. What does the chapter suggest a holy place becomes when it is used as a guarantee rather than a summons?

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