Jeremiah 6
1 Run and hide, descendants of Benjamin, get out of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa; light a signal fire in Beth-haccherem, for disaster and terrible destruction is arriving from the north.
“Strengthen yourselves, sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem, And blow a horn in Tekoa, And lift up a flame over Beth-Haccerem, For evil has been seen from the north, And great destruction.
2 Even though she is pretty and delightful, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.
I have cut off the lovely and delicate one, The daughter of Zion.
3 “Shepherds” and their “flocks” will come to attack her; they will set up their tents all around her, each one looking after his own.
Shepherds and their droves come to her, They have struck tents by her all around, They have each fed [in] his own station.”
4 They get ready for battle against her, saying, “Come on, we'll attack at noon! Oh no, the day is almost over, the evening shadows are growing long.
“Sanctify the battle against her, Rise, and we go up at noon. Woe to us, for the day has turned, For the shades of evening are stretched out,
5 Come on, we'll attack at night instead and destroy her fortresses!”
Rise, and we go up by night, And we destroy her palaces.”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Cut down the trees and make a siege ramp to use against Jerusalem. This city needs to be punished because it's full of people mistreating one another.
For thus said YHWH of Hosts: “Cut down her wood, And pour out a mound against Jerusalem, She [is] the city to be inspected, She [is] full of oppression in her midst.
7 Like a spring gushing out water, so she pours out her evil. The sounds of violence and abuse echo inside her. I see people sick and wounded everywhere.
As the digging of a well, is [for] its waters, So she has dug [for] her wickedness, Violence and spoil is heard in her, Sickness and striking [are] continually before My face.
8 I'm warning you, people of Jerusalem, I'm going to give up on you in disgust. I will destroy you and leave your country uninhabited.
Be instructed, O Jerusalem, Lest My soul be alienated from you, Lest I make you a desolation, A land [that is] not inhabited.”
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says: Even those left in Israel will be taken, just as grapes left on a vine are taken by the one harvesting the grapes who checks the branches again.
Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “They surely glean, as a vine, the remnant of Israel, Put your hand back, as a gatherer to the baskets.”
10 Who can I give this warning to? Who's going to listen to me? Can't you see that they refuse to listen? They can't hear what I'm saying. See how offensive the Lord's message is to them. They don't like it at all.
To whom do I speak, and testify, and they hear? Behold, their ear [is] uncircumcised, And they are not able to attend. Behold, a word of YHWH has been to them for a reproach, They do not delight in it.
11 But as for me, I'm full of the Lord's anger; I have a hard time keeping it in. The Lord replies, Pour it out on children in the street, and on groups of young people, because both husband and wife are going to be captured—it's everyone, and it doesn't matter how old they are.
And I have been filled with the fury of YHWH (I have been weary of containing), “To pour [it] on the suckling in the street, And on the assembly of youths together, For even husband with wife are captured, [The] elderly with one full of days,
12 Their houses will be given to others, their fields and wives too, because I'm going to punish everyone living in this country, declares the Lord.
And their houses have been turned to others, Fields and wives together, For I stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” A declaration of YHWH.
13 Everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars!
“For from their least to their greatest, Everyone is gaining dishonest gain, And from prophet even to priest, Everyone is dealing falsely,
14 They give my wounded people first aid, but they don't really care about them. They tell them, “Don't worry! We have peace!” even as war approaches.
And they heal the breach of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, Peace, peace! And there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed of the disgusting things they did? No, they weren't ashamed at all, they couldn't even blush. So they will fall just like the others, when I punish them; they will drop down dead, says the Lord.
They were ashamed when they did abomination! Indeed, they are not at all ashamed, Indeed, they have not known blushing, Therefore they fall among those falling, In the time I have inspected them, They stumble,” said YHWH.
16 This is what the Lord says: Go and stand where the roads divide, and look. Find out which are the old paths. Ask, “What's the right way?” Then follow it and you'll be content. But you refused, saying, “We won't go that way!”
Thus said YHWH: “Stand by the ways and see, and ask for paths of old, Where [is] this—the good way? And go in it, And find rest for yourselves. And they say, We do not go.
17 I put watchmen in charge of you and told you, make sure you listen for the trumpet call warning you of danger. But you answered, “We won't listen!”
And I have raised up watchmen for you, Attend to the voice of the horn. And they say, We do not attend.
18 So now you other nations can listen and find out what's going to happen to them.
Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, That which [is] on them.
19 Earth, you listen too! I am bringing disaster down on this people, the end result of what they themselves planned. It's because they paid no attention to what I said, and rejected my instructions.
Hear, O earth, behold, I am bringing evil on this people, The fruit of their plans, For they gave no attention to My words, And My law—they kick against it.
20 What's the point of offering me frankincense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a far-away land? I don't accept your burnt offerings; I'm not pleased with your sacrifices.
Why [is] this to Me? Frankincense comes from Sheba, And the sweet cane from a far-off land, Your burnt-offerings [are] not for acceptance, And your sacrifices have not been sweet to Me.”
21 So this is what the Lord says: I'm going to put blocks in front of these people to trip them up. Fathers and sons will fall down dead, friends and neighbors too.
Therefore, thus said YHWH: “Behold, I give stumbling blocks to this people, And fathers and sons have stumbled against them together, The neighbor and his friend perish.”
22 This is what the Lord says: Look! An army is invading from the north; a powerful nation is getting ready to attack all the way from the ends of the earth.
Thus said YHWH: “Behold, a people has come from a north country, And a great nation is stirred up from the sides of the earth.
23 They pick up their bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their war-cries are like the sea roaring, and they ride horses lined up ready to attack you, Daughter of Zion.
They take hold of bow and javelin, It [is] fierce, and they have no mercy, Their voice sounds as a sea, And they ride on horses, Set in array as a man of war, Against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 The people reply, “We've heard the news, and our hands are limp with shock! We're overcome with agony, suffering pain like a woman in labor.
We have heard its sound, our hands have been feeble, Distress has seized us, pain as of a travailing woman.
25 Don't go to the field! Don't walk down the road! The enemy is armed with swords! Terror is everywhere!”
Do not go forth to the field, And do not walk in the way, For the enemy has a sword, Fear [is] all around.
26 Oh my people, put on sackcloth and roll around in ashes. Mourn and cry bitterly like you would for an only son, because the destroyer will come down on you suddenly.
O daughter of my people, Gird on sackcloth, And roll yourself in ashes, Make mourning [as for] an only one, A most bitter lamentation, For the spoiler suddenly comes against us.
27 Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals so you can test my people as if they were metal, so you can know what they're made of and how they act.
“I have given you a watchtower, A fortress among My people, And you know, and have tried their way.
28 They're all stubborn rebels going around talking slander. They are hard as bronze and iron; they are all corrupt.
All of them are turned aside by apostates, Walking slanderously—bronze and iron, All of them are corrupters.
29 The bellows in the refiner's furnace blow powerfully, burning away the lead. But this refining is pointless, because the wicked are not purified.
The bellows have been burned, The lead has been consumed by fire, A refiner has refined in vain, And the wicked have not been drawn away.
30 They are identified as impure silver to be rejected, because the Lord has rejected them.
They have called them rejected silver, For YHWH has kicked against them!”
