Jeremiah 7:31 (DRB)

Passage

And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters in the fire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart.

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off thy hair, and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken the generation of his wrath,

Jeremiah 7:30 Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to pollute it;

Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters in the fire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart.

Jeremiah 7:32 Therefore behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom: but the valley of slaughter: and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place.

Jeremiah 7:33 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "built", "high", "places", "topheth", "valley", "ennom", "burn", and "sons". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "built" and "high", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "Because the children of Juda have done..." into verse 32's "Therefore behold the days shall come saith...", so "built" and "high" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "built" and "high" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.