Jeremiah 6

1 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.

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 The fair and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will be cut off by my hand.

The comely and the delicate, the daughter of Zion do I destroy.

3 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.

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 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.

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 Up! let us go up by night, and send destruction on her great houses.

Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.”

6 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.

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 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.

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 Undergo teaching, O Jerusalem, or my soul will be turned away from you, and I will make you a waste, an unpeopled land.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 even to the greatest, everyone is given up to getting money; from the prophet even to the priest, everyone is working 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 And they have made little of the wounds of my people, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

And they heal the breach of the daughter of my people very lightly, saying, Peace, peace: when there is no peace.

15 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.

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 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.

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 And I put watchmen over you, saying, Give attention to the sound of the horn; but they said, We will not give attention.

Then did I set watchmen over you, [saying, ] Listen to the sound of the cornet. But they said, We will not listen.

18 So then, give ear, you nations, and ...

Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O assembly, what [guilt] is among them.

19 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 Go not out into the field or by the way; for there is the sword of the attacker, and fear 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, 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.

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 made you a tester among my people, so that you may have knowledge of their way and put it to the test.

I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and probe their way.

28 All of them are turned away, going about with false stories; they are brass and iron: they are all workers of deceit.

They all are grievous revolters, going about as talebearers, copper and iron: they all are corrupt.

29 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.

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 will be named waste silver, because the Lord has given them up.

Refuse silver men call them; because the Lord hath rejected them.