Jeremiah 6
1 “Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
Go in flight out of Jerusalem, so that you may be safe, you children of Benjamin, and let the horn be sounded in Tekoa, and the flag be lifted up on Beth-haccherem: for evil is looking out from the north, and a great destruction.
2 Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.
The fair and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will be cut off by my hand.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her, each tending his own portion:
Keepers of sheep with their flocks will come to her; they will put up their tents round her; everyone will get food in his place.
4 ‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long.
Make war ready against her; up! let us go up when the sun is high. Sorrow is ours! for the day is turned and the shades of evening are stretched out.
5 Rise up, let us attack by night and destroy her fortresses!’”
Up! let us go up by night, and send destruction on her great houses.
6 For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst.
For this is what the Lord of armies has said: Let trees be cut down and an earthwork be placed against Jerusalem: sorrow on the false town! inside her there is nothing but cruel ways.
7 As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me.
As the spring keeps its waters cold, so she keeps her evil in her: the sound of cruel and violent behaviour is in her; before me at all times are disease and wounds.
8 Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.”
Undergo teaching, O Jerusalem, or my soul will be turned away from you, and I will make you a waste, an unpeopled land.
9 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.”
This is what the Lord of armies has said: Everything will be taken from the rest of Israel as the last grapes are taken from the vine; let your hand be turned to the small branches, like one pulling off grapes.
10 To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.
To whom am I to give word, witnessing so that they may take note? see, their ears are stopped, and they are not able to give attention: see, the word of the Lord has been a cause of shame to them, they have no delight in it.
11 But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.
For this reason I am full of the wrath of the Lord, I am tired of keeping it in: may it be let loose on the children in the street, and on the band of the young men together: for even the husband with his wife will be taken, the old man with him who is full of days.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,”
And their houses will be handed over to others, their fields and their wives together: for my hand will be stretched out against the people of the land, says the Lord.
13 “For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit.
For from the least of them even to the greatest, everyone is given up to getting money; from the prophet even to the priest, everyone is working deceit.
14 They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
And they have made little of the wounds of my people, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,”
Let them be put to shame because they have done disgusting things. They had no shame, they were not able to become red with shame: so they will come down with those who are falling: when my punishment comes on them, they will be made low, says the Lord.
16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
This is what the Lord has said: Take your place looking out on the ways; make search for the old roads, saying, Where is the good way? and go in it that you may have rest for your souls. But they said, We will not go in it.
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’
And I put watchmen over you, saying, Give attention to the sound of the horn; but they said, We will not give attention.
18 Therefore hear, O nations, and learn, O congregations, what will happen to them.
So then, give ear, you nations, and ...
19 Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.
Give ear, O earth: see, I will make evil come on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not given attention to my words, and they would have nothing to do with my law.
20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
To what purpose does sweet perfume come to me from Sheba, and spices from a far country? your burned offerings give me no pleasure, your offerings of beasts are not pleasing to me.
21 Therefore this is what the LORD says: “I will lay stumbling blocks before this people; fathers and sons alike will be staggered; friends and neighbors will perish.”
For this reason the Lord has said, See, I will put stones in the way of this people: and the fathers and the sons together will go falling over them; the neighbour and his friend will come to destruction.
22 This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth.
The Lord has said, See, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth.
23 They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.”
Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
The news of it has come to our ears; our hands have become feeble: trouble has come on us and pain, like the pain of a woman in childbirth.
25 Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
Go not out into the field or by the way; for there is the sword of the attacker, and fear on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
O daughter of my people, put on haircloth, rolling yourself in the dust: give yourself to sorrow, as for an only son, with most bitter cries of grief; for he who makes waste will come on us suddenly.
27 “I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.
I have made you a tester among my people, so that you may have knowledge of their way and put it to the test.
28 All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.
All of them are turned away, going about with false stories; they are brass and iron: they are all workers of deceit.
29 The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.
The blower is blowing strongly, the lead is burned away in the fire: they go on heating the metal to no purpose, for the evil-doers are not taken away.
30 They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”
They will be named waste silver, because the Lord has given them up.
