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Stop putting your confidence in the false belief that says,[a] “We are safe![b] The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here! The temple of the Lord is here!”[c] You must change[d] the way you have been living and do what is right. You must treat one another fairly.[e] Stop oppressing resident foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands.[f] Stop killing innocent people[g] in this land. Stop paying allegiance to[h] other gods. That will only bring about your ruin.[i]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 7:4 tn Heb “Stop trusting in lying words which say.”
  2. Jeremiah 7:4 tn The words “We are safe!” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
  3. Jeremiah 7:4 tn Heb “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these (i.e., these buildings).” Elsewhere triple repetition seems to mark a kind of emphasis (cf. Isa 6:3; Jer 22:29; Ezek 21:27 [32 HT]). The triple repetition that follows seems to be Jeremiah’s way of mocking the (false) sense of security that people had in the invincibility of Jerusalem because God dwelt in the temple. They appeared to be treating the temple as some kind of magical charm. A similar feeling had grown up around the ark in the time of the judges (cf. 1 Sam 3:3) and the temple and city of Jerusalem in Micah’s day (cf. Mic 3:11). It is reflected also in some of the Psalms (cf., e.g., Ps 46, especially v. 5).
  4. Jeremiah 7:5 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  5. Jeremiah 7:5 tn Heb “you must do justice between a person and his fellow/neighbor.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
  6. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “Stop oppressing resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.”sn Cf. Exod 22:21; Lev 19:33-34; Deut 10:18-19; 24:14, 17; 27:19.
  7. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”
  8. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
  9. Jeremiah 7:6 tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”