Jeremias 6

1 Strengthen yourselves, you children of Benjamin, [to flee] out of the midst of Jerusalem, and sound an alarm with the trumpet in Thecue, and set up a signal over Baethacharma: for evil threatens from the north, and a great destruction is coming.

Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.

2 And [your] pride, O daughter of Sion, shall be taken away.

I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman.

3 The shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; and they shall pitch [their] tents against her round about, and shall feed [their flocks] each with his hand.

The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.

4 Prepare yourselves for war against her; rise up, and let us go up against her at noon. Woe to us! for the day has gone down, for the shadows of the day fail.

Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.

5 Rise, and let us go up against her by night, and destroy her foundations.

Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.

6 For thus says the Lord, Hew down her trees, array a numerous force against Jerusalem. O false city; [there is] all oppression in her.

For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her.

7 As a cistern cools water, so her wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her, [as] continually before her.

As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.

8 You shall be chastened, O Jerusalem, with pain and the scourge, lest my soul depart from you; lest I make you a desert land, which shall not be inhabited.

Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.

9 For thus says the Lord, Glean, glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel: turn back [your hands] as a grape-gatherer to his basket.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer into the basket.

10 To whom shall I speak, and testify, that he may listen? behold, your ears are uncircumcised, and they shall not be able to hear: behold, the word of the Lord is become to them a reproach, they will not at all desire it.

To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it.

11 And I allowed my wrath to come to full, yet I kept [it] in, and did not utterly destroy them: I will pour it out on the children without, and on the assembly of young men together: for man and woman shall be taken together, the old man with him that is full of days.

Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.

12 And their houses shall be turned to others, [with] their fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of this land, says the Lord.

And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.

13 For from the least of them even to the greatest they have all committed iniquity; from the priest even to the false prophet they have all wrought falsely.

For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.

14 And they healed the breach of my people [imperfectly], making light [of it], and saying, Peace, peace, and where is peace?

And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.

15 They were ashamed because they failed; yet they were not ashamed as those who are [truly] ashamed, and they knew not their own disgrace: therefore shall they [utterly] fall when they do fall, and in the time of visitation shall they perish, said the Lord.

They were confounded, because they committed abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.

16 Thus says the Lord, Stand you in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord; and see what is the good way, and walk in it, and you shall find purification for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [in them].

Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.

17 I have set watchmen over you, [saying], Hear you the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hear [it].

And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.

18 Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.

Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.

19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evils upon this people, [even] the fruit of their rebellions; for they have not heeded my words, and they have rejected my law.

Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law.

20 Therefore do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a land afar off? your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not been pleasant to me.

To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

21 Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I [will] bring weakness upon this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbor and kinsman shall perish.

22 Thus says the Lord, Behold, a people comes from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end of the earth.

Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.

23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; [the people] is fierce, and will have no mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war against you as fire on horses and chariots, O daughter of Sion.

They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion.

24 We have heard the report of them: our hands are weakened: anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in travail.

We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor.

25 Go not forth into the field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.

Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth: sprinkle [yourself] with ashes; make for yourself pitiable lamentation, [as] the mourning for a beloved [son]: for misery will come suddenly upon you.

Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.

27 I have caused you to be tried amongst tried nations, and you shall know me when I have tried their way.

I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way.

28 [They are] all disobedient, walking perversely: [they are] brass and iron; they are all corrupted.

All of these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.

29 The bellows have failed from the fire, the lead has failed: the silversmith works at his trade in vain; their wickedness is not consumed.

The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.

30 Call you them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.

Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.