< 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.
Assemble, O ye children of Benjamin, to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and in Tekoa, blow the cornet, and on Beth-hakkerem set up a fire signal; for evil is seen [coming] out of the north, and great havoc.
2 Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.
The comely and the delicate, the daughter of Zion do I destroy.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her, each tending his own portion:
Unto her shall come shepherds with their flocks; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed off every one his own 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.
Prepare ye war against her! “Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day waneth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5 Rise up, let us attack by night and destroy her fortresses!’”
Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.”
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 thus hath said the Lord of hosts, Cut ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem: this is the city whose time of punishment is come; she is full of oppression in her midst.
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 a well sendeth forth its waters, so doth she cause her wickedness to spring forth: violence and robbery are heard in her; in my presence there are continually 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.”
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, that my soul tear itself not away from thee; that I render thee not desolate, a land which is not inhabited.
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.”
Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean like a vine the remnant of Israel: carry back thy hand as a grape-gatherer frequently to the baskets.
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 shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot be attentive: behold, the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach; 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.
And I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with sustaining it: [I must] pour it out over the child in the street, and over the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be seized, the aged with him that 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 shall be transferred unto others, fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand over the inhabitants of the land, saith 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 their least even unto their greatest, every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one practiseth falsehood.
14 They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all.
And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people very lightly, 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,”
They should have been ashamed, because they had committed an abomination; but they neither felt the least shame, nor did they know how to blush: therefore shall they fall among those that fall; at the time that I punish their sin shall they stumble, saith 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!’
Thus hath said the Lord, Place yourselves on the ways, and see, and ask after the ancient paths, where is the way which is good, that ye may walk thereon, and find rest for your soul. But they said, We will not walk [thereon].
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’
Then did I set watchmen over you, [saying, ] Listen to the sound of the cornet. But they said, We will not listen.
18 Therefore hear, O nations, and learn, O congregations, what will happen to them.
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O assembly, what [guilt] is among them.
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.
Hear, O earth! behold, I will bring evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts; because unto my words have they not been attentive, and as regardeth my law, —that have they despised.
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 serveth me the frankincense which cometh from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far-off country? your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not agreeable unto 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.”
Therefore thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will place before this people stumbling-blocks, and thereon shall stumble the fathers and the sons together, the neighbor and his friend, and they shall perish.
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.
Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation shall wake up from the farthest ends 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.”
Bow and spear shall they firmly grasp; cruel are they, and will have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and upon horses do they ride; set in array as one man for the war, against thee, 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.
We have heard the fame of him—our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, pain, as of a woman in giving birth.
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 forth into the field, on the road must ye not walk; for [there is] the sword of the enemy, terror 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, gird thyself with sackcloth, and roll thyself in the ashes: a mourning as for an only son prepare unto thee, a most bitter lamentation; for suddenly will the destroyer come over us.
27 “I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways.
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and probe their way.
28 All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.
They all are grievous revolters, going about as talebearers, copper and iron: they all are corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged.
The bellows are burnt, by the fire the lead is consumed: in vain the melter refineth; for the wicked are not separated away.
30 They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”
Refuse silver men call them; because the Lord hath rejected them.

< Jeremiah 6 >