Bible Strands
Jeremiah 7:4
Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers this message on behalf of the LORD of Hosts to the people of Judah gathered at the temple. He speaks this warning immediately after calling the nation to correct their ways and deeds so they may continue to inhabit the land.
The words — The Hebrew תִבְטְח֣וּ (tiv.te.Chu) commands "you trust," directly paired with דִּבְרֵ֥י הַ/שֶּׁ֖קֶר (div.Rei ha./She.ker), meaning "words of deception." The text literally prohibits relying on the repeated refrain claiming the building is Yahweh's temple.
The thread — The text warns against false security in Micah 3:11, where religious leaders exploit their offices for profit, and in Matthew 3:9, which rejects reliance on ancestral privilege. The text itself establishes that ritual confidence and external markers cannot substitute for righteous conduct.
Why it lands — The text demands readers examine what they rely on for security when facing divine judgment. It requires replacing ritual confidence with genuine ethical action and obedience to God's commands.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.
Cross-references
- Micah 3:11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets practice divination for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD, saying, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster can come upon us.”
- Zephaniah 3:11 On that day you will not be put to shame for any of the deeds by which you have transgressed against Me. For then I will remove from among you those who rejoice in their pride, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
- Matthew 3:9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Jeremiah 29:31 “Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
- Ezekiel 13:19 You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- 1 Samuel 4:3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
- Jeremiah 6:14 They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
- Jeremiah 7:8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
- Jeremiah 28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.
- Luke 3:8 Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.