Jeremiah 6
1 “O sons of Benjamin, be strengthened in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Tekoa, and lift up a banner over the house of Haccherem. For an evil has been seen from the north, with 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 I have compared the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman.
The fair and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will be cut off by my hand.
3 The pastors will come to her with their flocks. They have pitched their tents against her all around. Each one will feed those who are under his hand.
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 ‘Sanctify a war against her! Rise up together, and let us ascend at midday.’ ‘Woe to us! For the day has declined; for the shadows of the evening have grown longer.’
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, and let us ascend in the night, and let us destroy her houses.’”
Up! let us go up by night, and send destruction on her great houses.
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Cut down her trees, and build a rampart around Jerusalem. This is the city of visitation! Every kind of false claim is 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 Just as a cistern makes its water cold, so has she made her wickedness cold. Iniquity and devastation will be heard in her; sickness and wounds will be 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 O Jerusalem, accept instruction, lest perhaps my soul may withdraw from you; lest perhaps I may set you in a desert, in an uninhabitable land.”
Undergo teaching, O Jerusalem, or my soul will be turned away from you, and I will make you a waste, an unpeopled land.
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They will gather the remnant of Israel, even as a single cluster of grapes is gathered from a vine. Direct your hand, as a grape-gatherer directs his hand to the basket.
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 should I speak, and to whom should I testify, so as to be heard? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and so they are unable to hear. Behold, for them, the word of the Lord has become a disgrace. And so they will not accept 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 For this reason, I have been filled with the fury of the Lord. I labor to bear it. Let it be poured out upon the child outside, or upon a group of young men meeting together. For a man will be taken captive with a woman, an elder will be taken captive with one who is full of days.
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 And their houses will be given over to others, with both their lands and their wives. For I will extend my hand over the inhabitants of the earth, says the Lord.
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 Certainly, from the least of them even to the greatest, all of them practice greed. And from the prophet even to the priest, all of them act with 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 And they healed the destruction of the daughter of my people with disgrace, by saying: ‘Peace, peace.’ And there was no peace.
And they have made little of the wounds of my people, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 They were confounded, because they committed an abomination. Or rather, they were not confounded with shame, because they did not know how to blush. For this reason, they will fall among those who are being destroyed. In the time of their visitation, they will fall, says the Lord.”
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 Thus says the Lord: “Stand above the ways, and see and ask, about the ancient paths, as to which is the good way, and then walk in it. And you will find refreshment for your souls. But they said: ‘We will not walk.’
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 And I appointed watchers over you, saying: ‘Listen for the sound of the trumpet.’ And they said: ‘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 For this reason, hear, O Gentiles, and know, O congregation, how much I will do to them.
So then, give ear, you nations, and ...
19 Hear, O earth! Behold, I will lead evils over this people, as the fruits of their own thoughts. For they have not listened to my words, and they have cast aside my law.
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 For what reason are you bringing me frankincense from Sheba, and sweet smelling reeds from a far away land? Your holocausts are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to 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, thus says the Lord: “Behold I will bring this people to utter ruin, and they will fall, with their fathers and sons; neighbor and relative will perish together.”
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 Thus says the Lord: “Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north, and a great nation will rise 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 will take hold of arrow and shield. They are cruel, and they will not take pity. Their voice will roar like the ocean. And they will climb upon horses, for they have been prepared like men for battle, 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 of their fame. Our hands have become weakened. Tribulation has overtaken us, like the pains of a woman giving birth.’
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 choose to go out into the fields, and you should not walk along the roadway. For the sword and the terror of the enemy 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 Wrap yourself in haircloth, O daughter of my people. And sprinkle yourself with ashes. Make a mourning for yourself, as for an only son, a bitter lamentation: ‘for the destroyer will overwhelm us suddenly.’
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 presented you as a strong tester among my people. And you will test and know their way.
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 these leaders who are turning away and walking deceitfully, they are brass and iron; they have all been corrupted.
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 has failed; the lead has been consumed by fire; the molten metal was melted to no purpose. For their wickedness has not been consumed.
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 Call them: ‘Rejected silver.’ For the Lord has cast them aside.”
They will be named waste silver, because the Lord has given them up.
