Jeremias 7

BLIVRE · Chapter 7/52

1Palavra que veio do SENHOR a Jeremias, dizendo:

2Põe-te à porta da casa do SENHOR, e clama ali esta palavra, e dize: Ouvi palavra do SENHOR, toda Judá, vós que entrais por estas portas para adorar ao SENHOR!

3Assim diz o SENHOR dos exércitos, Deus de Israel: Melhorai vossos caminhos e vossos atos, e eu vos farei habitar neste lugar.

4Não confieis em palavras falsas, que dizem: Templo do SENHOR! Templo do SENHOR! Este é o templo do SENHOR!

5Mas se verdadeiramente melhorardes vossos caminhos e vossas obras; se verdadeiramente fizerdes justiça entre o homem e seu próximo;

6E não oprimirdes ao estrangeiro que peregrina entre vós, ao órfão, e à viúva, nem derramardes sangue inocente neste lugar, nem seguirdes deuses estrangeiros para vosso mal;

7Eu vos farei morar neste lugar, na terra que dei a vossos pais desde os tempos antigos para sempre.

8Eis que vós os confiais em palavras falsas, que não têm proveito algum.

9Por acaso furtareis, matareis, e adulterareis, e jurareis falsamente, e queimareis incenso a Baal, e andareis atrás de deuses estrangeiros, a quem não conheceis,

10E [então] vireis e vos poreis perante mim nesta casa , que se chama pelo meu nome, e direis: Libertos somos, para fazer todas estas abominações?

11Por acaso esta casa, que se chama pelo meu nome, é uma caverna de assaltantes perante vossos olhos? Eis que também vi [isso] , diz o SENHOR.

12Porém ide agora a meu lugar, que era em Siló, onde fiz habitar meu nome no princípio; e vede o que lhe fiz pela maldade do meu povo Israel.

13Portanto agora, visto que vós tendes feito todas estas obras, diz o SENHOR, e vos falei, insistindo em falar, mas não ouvistes, e eu os chamei, mas não respondestes;

14Farei também a esta casa, que se chama pelo meu nome, em que vós confiais, e a este lugar que dei a vós e a vossos pais, tal como fiz a Siló:

15E eu vos lançarei fora de minha presença, tal como lancei a todos os vossos irmãos, toda a geração de Efraim.

16Por isso não ores tu por este povo, nem levantes por eles clamor nem oração, nem rogues a mim, pois eu não te ouvirei.

17Não vês o que eles costumam fazer nas cidades de Judá e nas ruas de Jerusalém?

18Os filhos coletam a lenha, e os pais acendem o fogo, e as mulheres amassam a massa, para fazerem bolos à rainha dos céus e dedicarem ofertas de bebidas a deuses estrangeiros, para me provocarem à ira.

19Por acaso eles me provocam à ira?diz o SENHOR, eles não [acabam provocando mais] a si mesmos, para vergonha de seus próprios rostos?

20Por isso assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Eis que que minha ira e meu furor serão derramados sobre este lugar: sobre os homens, sobre os animais, sobre as árvores do campo, e sobre os frutos da terra; e se acenderá, e não se apagará.

21Assim diz o SENHOR dos exércitos, Deus de Israel: Acrescentai os vossos holocaustos aos vossos sacrifícios, e comei carne.

22Pois não falei a vossos pais, nem lhes mandei, no dia em que os tirei da terra do Egito, coisa alguma sobre holocaustos ou sacrifícios;

23porém isto lhes mandei, dizendo: Escutai a minha voz, e eu serei vosso Deus, e vós sereis meu povo; e andai em todo o caminho que eu vos mandar, para que o bem vos aconteça.

24Mas eles não ouviram, nem inclinaram seus ouvidos; ao invés disso, caminharam em [seus próprios] conselhos, na teimosia de seu coração maligno, e foram para trás, e não para frente.

25Desde o dia em que vossos pais saíram da terra do Egito até hoje, eu vos enviei a todos os meus servos os profetas, e enviando-os dia após dia.

26Mas eles não me ouviram, nem inclinaram seu ouvidos; ao invés disso, teimaram ainda mais, e fizeram pior que seus pais.

27Por isso tu lhes dirás todas estas palavras, mas eles não te ouvirão; e tu os chamarás, mas eles não te responderão.

28Então tu lhes dirás: Esta é a nação que não escutou a voz do SENHOR seu Deus, nem aceitou correção; a verdade pereceu, e foi cortada de suas bocas.

29Tosquia o teu cabelo, e lança-o fora, e levanta pranto sobre os lugares altos; porque o SENHOR tem rejeitado e abandonado a nação que causou sua ira.

30Porque os filhos de Judá fizeram o mal perante meus olhos, diz o SENHOR; puseram suas abominações na casa que se chama pelo meu nome, para contaminá-la.

31E edificaram os altos de Tofete, que ficam no vale do filho de Hinom, para queimarem no fogo seus filhos e suas filhas, o que eu nunca mandei, nem pensei em meu coração.

32Por isso eis que virão dias, diz o SENHOR, que não se dirá mais Tofete, nem Vale do filho de Hinom, mas sim Vale da Matança; e serão enterrados em Tofete, por não haver lugar.

33E os cadáveres deste povo serão para comida das aves dos céus e dos animais da terra; e ninguém os espantará.

34E farei cessar das cidades de Judá e da ruas de Jerusalém a voz de júbilo e voz de alegria, voz de noivo e voz de noiva; porque a terra se tornará desolação.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah preaches the famous 'temple sermon,' warning that blindly trusting in the sacred building ('the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD') does not save those who practice injustice and idolatry.

Explanation

This is one of the best-known speeches in the book: the people believed that having the temple in Jerusalem automatically protected them, no matter how they lived. Jeremiah reminds them of Shiloh, the ancient Israelite sanctuary that was destroyed (1 Samuel 4) despite also being a sacred place — surface-level religiosity does not prevent judgment. The mention of the 'Valley of Ben-hinnom' (Topheth) refers to a real location south of Jerusalem where child sacrifices were offered to Molech, one of the worst religious corruptions of the period. The central application is timeless: no religious symbol replaces a life of real justice.

Fun facts

  • The Valley of Ben-hinnom, mentioned here, gave rise to the word 'Gehenna,' used in the New Testament as a symbol of hell, precisely because of its horrific history tied to child sacrifice.
  • Shiloh was the site of the tabernacle before the temple was built in Jerusalem, and its archaeological destruction around 1050 BC is confirmed by modern excavations.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 7:1Opening formula for a new speech: it introduces the famous ‘temple sermon,’ one of Jeremiah's harshest speeches, preached right at the door of God's house.
  2. Jeremias 7:2God sends Jeremiah to preach right at the entrance of the temple, at the very moment people arrive to worship - the most strategic and most provocative possible spot for this message.
  3. Jeremias 7:3The opening offer is one of hope: if the people truly change their behavior, they can still go on living in the land - staying depends on conduct, not on the temple alone.
  4. Jeremias 7:4The temple of the Lord, repeated three times, was a catchphrase among the people, a kind of amulet: they believed that having the temple in the city protected them automatically, no matter how they lived. Jeremiah comes precisely to tear down that false security.
  5. Jeremias 7:5Spells out what it means to truly change: practicing justice in everyday relationships, not just performing rituals at the temple.
  6. Jeremias 7:6Lists the concrete conditions: protect the most vulnerable, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, do not shed innocent blood, and abandon other gods - social justice and religious faithfulness go hand in hand here.
  7. Jeremias 7:7Repeats the conditional promise: by meeting these requirements, the people would remain forever in the land promised to their ancestors - permanence is not automatic.
  8. Jeremias 7:8Points out the people's mistake: they trust in empty words, likely the idea that the temple protects them automatically, without that actually fixing anything.
  9. Jeremias 7:9Lists sins that directly break the Ten Commandments, theft, murder, adultery, false witness, idolatry, exposing the hypocrisy of those who do all this and still go to the temple.
  10. Jeremias 7:10Describes the absurdity: after all these sins, the people still go to the temple believing they are free to keep sinning, as if their presence there gave them a free pass.
  11. Jeremias 7:11A den of robbers is the phrase Jesus will quote centuries later when driving the moneychangers out of the temple (Matthew 21:13). It shows that Jeremiah's criticism became a classic reference for turning a sacred place into a hideout for wrongdoers who feel protected by it.
  12. Jeremias 7:12Shiloh was where the tabernacle stood before the temple in Jerusalem, and it was destroyed centuries earlier. God uses that example: if that sacred place did not escape, the temple in Jerusalem will not escape either.
  13. Jeremias 7:13God highlights His persistence in warning the people again and again, without stopping - and even so He was ignored, which makes the judgment all the more justified.
  14. Jeremias 7:14Here is the sermon's central threat: the temple in Jerusalem, so beloved and viewed as untouchable, will meet the same destruction that struck Shiloh.
  15. Jeremias 7:15Ephraim is a way of referring to the northern kingdom, Israel, already carried off into exile by Assyria. God warns that Judah will suffer the same fate of being driven from the land.
  16. Jeremias 7:16God even forbids Jeremiah from interceding for the people, something shocking, since intercession was a central role of the prophet - a sign that the judgment decision had already been made.
  17. Jeremias 7:17God draws attention to a specific worship happening publicly, in the streets, detailed in the next verse.
  18. Jeremias 7:18The queen of heaven was likely Ashtoreth or Ishtar, a fertility goddess worshiped with cakes and drink offerings - a popular cult, practiced at home, by the whole family. Jeremiah returns to this same cult later on, in Egypt, in chapter 44.
  19. Jeremias 7:19God makes it clear that the one who loses out from this idolatry is not Him, but the people themselves - God's anger is a response, the real damage is their own self-destruction.
  20. Jeremias 7:20The announced judgment does not affect people alone, but all creation around them, animals, trees, the whole land, and it is described as a fire no one will be able to put out.
  21. Jeremias 7:21An ironic statement: normally only the priest ate part of the burnt offering, but God says, sarcastically, they may as well eat it all, since their sacrifices are worthless anyway.
  22. Jeremias 7:22It is not a literal rejection of sacrifices, which God did in fact institute afterward, but a way of saying that the original priority of the covenant at Sinai was not ritual, but obedience.
  23. Jeremias 7:23The heart of the covenant was always the relationship and obedience - ‘I will be your God, and ye shall be my people’ - not the sacrificial system itself, which only makes sense within that relationship.
  24. Jeremias 7:24Instead of moving forward in the relationship with God, the people went backward, following their own plans and ideas instead of the instruction they received.
  25. Jeremias 7:25God sums up the whole history of Israel as an unbroken sequence of prophets sent to warn the people, from the exodus down to Jeremiah's own present - this rejection is nothing new.
  26. Jeremias 7:26The situation did not improve over time, it got worse: each generation grew harder-hearted than the one before, a process of continuous moral decay.
  27. Jeremias 7:27God already warns Jeremiah that the mission will be frustrating: even after he faithfully says all this, the people will not listen - the prophet must preach knowing the answer will be silence.
  28. Jeremias 7:28Describes a society in which truth has vanished completely from public discourse - it is not just occasional disobedience, it is the total loss of honesty as a value.
  29. Jeremias 7:29Cutting the hair was a gesture of deep mourning in ancient culture. It is a call to mourn openly, because this specific generation has been rejected by God because of its own wickedness.
  30. Jeremias 7:30The gravest accusation: they set up idols inside God's own temple, defiling the nation's most sacred place with objects belonging to other gods.
  31. Jeremias 7:31Topheth, in the valley of the son of Hinnom, outside the walls of Jerusalem, was where children were sacrificed by fire. The text insists this never entered God's heart, making clear it is not a distorted command from God, but an import of foreign worship.
  32. Jeremias 7:32The place where children were sacrificed will be renamed ‘the valley of slaughter,’ because it will become a graveyard so filled with the dead from the invasion that there will be no room left anywhere else.
  33. Jeremias 7:33A shocking image of disgrace: not receiving a proper burial was considered one of the worst possible curses in that culture - the bodies would lie exposed, becoming food for animals.
  34. Jeremias 7:34Even the most joyful everyday sounds, like feasting and weddings, will disappear completely from the cities - a sign that ordinary life will be interrupted by desolation.

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