False Religion Worthless
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:
“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
9“ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury,7:9 Or and swear by false gods burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
12“ ‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. 14Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’
16“So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. 19But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?
20“ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.
21“ ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’
27“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29“ ‘Cut off your hair and throw it away; take up a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned this generation that is under his wrath.
The Valley of Slaughter
30“ ‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. 31They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33Then the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.
聖殿講道
1耶和華對耶利米說： 2「你站在耶和華殿的門口這樣宣告，『所有從這些門進殿敬拜耶和華的猶大人啊，你們要聽耶和華的話。 3以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說，你們改過自新，我便讓你們在這裡安居。 4你們不要相信那些謊言，說這是耶和華的殿，這是耶和華的殿，這是耶和華的殿。
5「『如果你們真正改過自新，彼此公平相待， 6不欺壓異鄉人和孤兒寡婦，不在這地方濫殺無辜，不拜其他神明自取毀滅， 7我便讓你們在這塊我永遠賜給你們祖先的土地上安居。
8「『然而，你們竟相信那些空洞的謊言。 9難道你們偷盜、謀殺、通姦、起假誓、向巴力獻祭、拜不認識的神明， 10然後來到這用來敬拜我的殿，站在我面前說自己安全了，就以為可以繼續做可憎之事嗎？ 11難道這用來敬拜我的殿在你們眼中竟成了賊窩嗎？這些事，我都看在眼裡。這是耶和華說的。
12「『你們去我曾選為我名所在之地的示羅，看看我是怎樣因我以色列子民的罪而懲罰那地方的。 13我對你們的所作所為一再提出警告，你們卻充耳不聞；我呼喚你們，你們卻不回應。這是耶和華說的。 14因此，我要像對待示羅一樣，對待你們所倚靠的這用來敬拜我的殿，對待我賜給你們和你們祖先的地方。 15我要把你們從我面前趕走，好像從前趕走你們的弟兄以法蓮7·15 「以法蓮」此處指「北國以色列」。人一樣。』
16「耶利米啊，不要為這些百姓禱告，不要替他們呼求禱告，不要為他們向我祈求，因為我必不聽。 17你沒有看見他們在猶大各城和耶路撒冷街道上所做的事嗎？ 18孩子拾柴，父親點火，婦人揉麵做餅向天后獻祭，向其他神明奠酒，惹我發怒。 19難道他們是在惹我發怒嗎？難道他們不是自害己身，自取羞辱嗎？這是耶和華說的。」 20因此，主耶和華說：「我要向這地方的人、牲畜、田野的樹木和地裡的出產發怒，發烈怒，如熊熊怒火，無法熄滅。」
21以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說：「你們把燔祭和其他祭物都拿去吃吧！ 22因為我把你們祖先帶出埃及的時候，並沒有吩咐他們獻燔祭或其他祭物， 23只吩咐他們一件事，『你們要聽從我的話，我就做你們的上帝，你們做我的子民；你們遵行我的一切吩咐，就必蒙福。』 24他們卻掩耳不聽，一意孤行，任意行惡，越來越壞。 25從你們的祖先離開埃及那天起，一直到今天，我日復一日地差遣我的僕人——眾先知到你們那裡， 26但你們掩耳不聽，頑固不化，比你們的祖先更邪惡。
27「耶利米啊，你將這番話告訴他們，他們也不會聽；你向他們呼籲，他們也不會回應。 28你要對他們說，『這就是不聽他們上帝耶和華的話、不肯受管教的國民。忠信喪盡，他們已絕口不提。
29「『你們要剪去頭髮扔掉，
在光禿的山上唱哀歌，
因為耶和華已棄絕這惹祂發怒的世代。』」
30耶和華說：「猶大人做了我視為邪惡的事，把可憎的偶像放在用來敬拜我的聖殿中，玷污了聖殿。 31他們在欣嫩子谷的陀斐特建造邱壇，焚燒自己的兒女。我從未吩咐他們這樣做，連想都沒想過。 32因此，看啊，時候將到，那地方必不再叫陀斐特或欣嫩子谷，而要叫殺戮谷。他們要在那裡埋葬死人，直到無處可埋。這是耶和華說的。 33飛禽走獸必吃這百姓的屍體，無人驅趕牠們。 34我要使猶大各城和耶路撒冷街上的歡樂聲、新郎和新娘的歡笑聲全部消失，因為大地必荒涼。」
