Jeremiah Preaches in the Temple
1-3 The Lord sent me to the gate of the Temple where the people of Judah went in to worship. He told me to stand there and announce what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had to say to them: “Change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and I will let you go on living here. 4 Stop believing those deceitful words, ‘We are safe! This is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple, this is the Lord's Temple!’
5 “Change the way you are living and stop doing the things you are doing. Be fair in your treatment of one another. 6 Stop taking advantage of aliens, orphans, and widows. Stop killing innocent people in this land. Stop worshiping other gods, for that will destroy you. 7 If you change, I will let you go on living here in the land which I gave your ancestors as a permanent possession.
8 “Look, you put your trust in deceitful words. 9 You steal, murder, commit adultery, tell lies under oath, offer sacrifices to Baal, and worship gods that you had not known before. 10 You do these things I hate, and then you come and stand in my presence, in my own Temple, and say, ‘We are safe!’ 11 Do you think that my Temple is a hiding place for robbers? I have seen what you are doing. 12 Go to Shiloh, the first place where I chose to be worshiped, and see what I did to it because of the sins of my people Israel. 13 You have committed all these sins, and even though I spoke to you over and over again, you refused to listen. You would not answer when I called you. 14 And so, what I did to Shiloh I will do to this Temple of mine, in which you trust. Here in this place that I gave to your ancestors and you, I will do the same thing that I did to Shiloh. 15 I will drive you out of my sight as I drove out your relatives, the people of Israel. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The People's Disobedience
16 The Lord said, “Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not cry or pray on their behalf; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather firewood, the men build fires, and the women mix dough to bake cakes for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They also pour out offerings of wine to other gods, in order to hurt me. 19 But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves. 20 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, will pour out my fierce anger on this Temple. I will pour it out on people and animals alike, and even on the trees and the crops. My anger will be like a fire that no one can put out.
21 “My people, some sacrifices you burn completely on the altar, and some you are permitted to eat. But what I, the Lord, say is that you might as well eat them all. 22 I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt. 23 But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people. And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them. 24 But they did not obey or pay any attention. Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better. 25 From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets. 26 Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.
27 “So, Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer. 28 You will tell them that their nation does not obey me, the Lord their God, or learn from their punishment. Faithfulness is dead. No longer is it even talked about.
Sinful Deeds in Hinnom Valley
29 “Mourn, people of Jerusalem;
cut off your hair and throw it away.
Sing a funeral song on the hilltops,
because I, the Lord, am angry
and have rejected my people.
30 “The people of Judah have done an evil thing. They have placed their idols, which I hate, in my Temple and have defiled it. 31 In Hinnom Valley they have built an altar called Topheth, so that they can sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire. I did not command them to do this—it did not even enter my mind. 32 And so, the time will come when it will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley, but Slaughter Valley. They will bury people there because there will be nowhere else to bury them. 33 The corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals, and there will be no one to scare them off. 34 The land will become a desert. In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the happy sounds of wedding feasts.
Kunga vēstījums par viltus dievkalpošanu
(Jer 26:4–6)1 Vārdi, kas Jeremijam nāca no Kunga: 2 “Stājies Kunga nama vārtos un sauc tur šos vārdus: klausieties Kunga vārdu jūs, visi jūdi, kas pa šiem vārtiem nākat zemoties Kungam!
3 Tā saka Pulku Kungs, Israēla Dievs: lai jūsu darbi un gaitas kļūst labi, tad es mājošu pie jums šajā vietā. 4 Nepaļaujieties uz viltus vārdiem, sacīdami: Kunga templis, Kunga templis, Kunga templis! 5 Ja jūsu gaitas un darbi kļūs labi, ja spriedīsiet taisnu tiesu 6 un neapspiedīsiet ne svešinieku, ne bāreni, ne atraitni, un neizliesiet nevainīgas asinis šajā vietā un nepielūgsiet citus dievus – paši sev par ļaunu, 7 tad es mājošu pie jums šajā vietā – zemē, ko es devu jūsu tēviem uz mūžīgiem laikiem. 8 Redzi, jūs paļaujaties uz melu vārdiem, kas neko nedod! 9 Kādēļ jums zagt, slepkavot, pārkāpt laulību? Un melīgi zvērēt un kvēpināt Baalam? Un pielūgt citus dievus, kurus jūs nepazīstat? 10 Un tad jūs nākat un stājaties manā priekšā šajā namā, kas saukts manā vārdā, un sakāt: tagad esam glābti un darīsim visas šīs preteklības! 11 Vai jums šķiet, ka šis nams, kas saukts manā vārdā, kļuvis par laupītāju bedri?! Patiesi, arī es to redzu! – saka Kungs.
12 Ejiet uz manu vietu, uz Šīlo, kur es vispirms liku mist savam vārdam, un skatiet, ko es ar to izdarīju savas tautas Israēla ļaunuma dēļ! 13 Un tagad – tādēļ ka jūs darījāt visus šos darbus, saka Kungs, es nerimis runāju uz jums, es runāju, bet jūs neklausījāties, es saucu jūs, bet jūs neatbildējāt! – 14 tagad šim namam, kas saukts manā vārdā un uz ko jūs paļāvāties, tai vietai, kuru es devu jūsu tēviem, es darīšu tāpat, kā es darīju Šīlo! 15 Es jūs atmetīšu tāpat, kā es atmetu jūsu brāļus – visu Efraima dzimumu!
16 Un tu par šo tautu nelūdz, nekauc un nelūdz par tiem! Mani nelūdz, jo es nedzirdu! 17 Vai tu neredzi, ko viņi dara Jūdas pilsētās un Jeruzālemes ielās? 18 Dēli vāc malku, tēvi dedz uguni, un sievas jauc mīklu, lai ceptu elku maizes debesu ķēniņienei. Viņi lej vīna upuri citiem dieviem, kaitinādami mani! 19 Vai mani tie kaitina? – saka Kungs, – vai ne sevi, pašiem par kaunu? 20 Tādēļ tā saka Kungs Dievs: redzi, šajā vietā izlīs manas dusmas un niknums – pār cilvēku un pār zvēru, pār lauka koku un pār zemes augli: viss degs, ka ne nodzēst!”
21 Tā saka Pulku Kungs, Israēla Dievs: “Jūsu sadedzināmos upurus lieciet pie jūsu kaujamiem upuriem un rijiet gaļu! 22 Jo jūsu tēviem todien, kad es tos izvedu no Ēģiptes zemes, es neko neteicu un nepavēlēju par sadedzināmajiem upuriem un kaujamiem upuriem. 23 Es pavēlēju šos vārdus: klausieties manā balsī, un es būšu jums par Dievu, un jūs būsiet mana tauta, un jūs staigāsiet pa tiem ceļiem, kurus es jums pavēlu – un jums būs labi. 24 Bet viņi neklausījās, pat ausi nepastiepa un staigāja savā padomā un savu ļauno siržu stūrgalvībā – gāja atpakaļ, ne uz priekšu! 25 No tās dienas, kad jūsu tēvi iznāca no Ēģiptes zemes, līdz pat šai dienai es esmu sūtījis pie jums daudzus savus kalpus, praviešus. Ik dienas es nemitējos, tos sūtīdams. 26 Bet viņi manī neklausījās – pat ausi nepastiepa un bija stūrgalvīgi, un darīja ļaunu vairāk par saviem tēviem! 27 Tu runāsi uz viņiem visus šos vārdus, bet tie tevī neklausīsies, tu sauksi uz viņiem, bet tie neatbildēs! 28 Saki viņiem: šī ir tauta, kas neklausa sava Dieva Kunga balsij un nelabojas: patiesība ir izdeldēta un iznīdēta no viņu lūpām!
29 Cērp nost savus matus, met tos prom
un raudi pār kailajiem kalniem,
jo Kungs ir atmetis un atstūmis
sava barguma audzi!
30 Jūdas dēli darīja ļaunu, man redzot, saka Kungs, savus dievekļus tie nolika namā, kas saukts manā vārdā, un aptraipīja to. 31 Tie cēla ziedokļus Tofetā, Ben-Hinnomas ielejā, lai tur ugunī dedzinātu savus dēlus un meitas. To es neesmu pavēlējis, tas nenāk no manas sirds!
32 Redzi, tādēļ nāk dienas, saka Kungs, kad to vairs nesauks par Tofetu un Ben-Hinnomas ieleju, bet par Slepkavu ieleju. Tie nāks apbedīt Tofetā, jo citur vairs nebūs vietas! 33 Šīs tautas līķi kļūs par barību debesu putniem un zemes zvēriem, neviens tos netramdīs projām! 34 Es darīšu, ka Jūdas pilsētās un Jeruzālemes ielās vairs neskanēs ne līksmes, ne prieka balss, ne līgavaiņa, ne līgavas balss, un šī zeme kļūs par postažu.”
