[7:16] 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.
[7:17] Don't you see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
[7:18] 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.
[7:19] But am I really the one they are hurting? No, they are hurting themselves and bringing shame on themselves.
[7:20] 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.
[7:21] “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.
[7:22] I gave your ancestors no commands about burnt offerings or any other kinds of sacrifices when I brought them out of Egypt.
[7:23] 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.
[7:24] 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.
[7:25] 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.
[7:26] Yet no one listened or paid any attention. Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.
[7:27] “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.
[7:28] 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.