The basic mode of poetry in 2:1–10:25 is interrupted by a prose sermon. The sermon, a sharp attack on moral deviations and misguided doctrinal views about the temple, stirs up a vehement response, as we learn from a parallel account in Jeremiah 26:1–15. Attack on venerated tradition is risky business (cf. Acts 7). The sermon, on worship, leads to some instructions designed to correct misguided worship (7:16–26) and to halt bizarre worship (7:27–8:3). It is a prelude to further talk about siege (8–10). Similarly, the sermon of chapters 2–3 precedes the announcement of the northern invader (4:5–6:30).

The famous temple sermon (7:1–15) at once identifies the points at issue: a call to behavioral reform and a challenge to belief about the temple. The first point is amplified in verses 5–7, t…