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.
Flee, O ye sons of Benjamin, from Jerusalem, And blow ye the trumpet in Tekoa, And lift up the banner in Beth-haccerem! For evil threateneth from the North; Yea, great destruction.
2 Even though she is pretty and delightful, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.
O daughter of Zion, the comely and delicate, Thee have I doomed to destruction!
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.
The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; They shall pitch their tents against her round about; They shall feed each one in his place.
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.
“Prepare ye war against her, [[shall they say; ]] Arise, and let us go up at noonday; Alas for us! for the day goeth away, For the shadows of evening are lengthened.
5 Come on, we'll attack at night instead and destroy her fortresses!”
Arise, and let us go up by night, And let us 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 saith Jehovah of hosts: Hew ye down trees, And raise a mound against Jerusalem! She is a city to be punished; She is full of oppression.
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 a fountain sendeth forth its waters, So she sendeth forth her wickedness. Violence and rapine are heard within her; Before me continually are bruises and wounds.
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.
Receive correction, O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be alienated from thee, Lest I make thee a desolation, A land 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 saith Jehovah of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; Turn thy hand like a grape-gatherer again 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 shall I speak? To whom give warning, so that they shall hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, so that they cannot hearken; Behold, the word of Jehovah is to them a derision; They have no 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.
Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah; I am weary of holding it; I will pour it out alike upon the children in the street, And upon the assembly of the young men. Yea, also the husband with the wife shall be taken, The old man, and he that is 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.
Their houses also shall be transferred to others, Their fields and their wives together, For I will stretch out my hand over the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah.
13 Everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars!
For from the least of them even to the greatest, Every one is greedy of gain; Prophet and priest alike, Every one of them practiseth deceit.
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.
They heal the wound of my people slightly, Saying, Peace! peace! when 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.
Are they ashamed that they have done abominable things? Nay, they are not at all ashamed; They know not how to blush; Therefore shall they fall with them that fall; At the time when I punish them, They shall be cast down, saith Jehovah.
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 saith Jehovah: Stand ye upon the ways and look; And ask for the old paths, “Where is the good way?” Walk ye in it, and ye shall find for yourselves rest. But they say, We will not walk in it.
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!”
I have also set watchmen over you, [[saying, ]] Hearken to the sound of the trumpet! But they say, We will not hearken.
18 So now you other nations can listen and find out what's going to happen to them.
Therefore hear, O ye nations, And know, ye assembled multitude, What shall come upon 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 thou, O earth! Behold, I bring evil upon this people, The fruit of their devices; Because they have not hearkened to my words, And have even rejected my law.
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.
To what purpose is incense brought to me from Sheba, And the sweet-smelling reed from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, Nor are your sacrifices 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 saith Jehovah: Behold, I lay stumbling-blocks before this people, Upon which fathers and sons shall stumble together, The neighbor and his friend, and shall 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 saith Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the land of the North; A great nation riseth up from the extremities 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 bear the bow and the spear; They are cruel and show no mercy; Their voice roareth like the sea; And upon horses do they ride, Arrayed as a warrior against thee, 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 the report thereof; Our hands lose their strength; Anguish hath taken hold of us, Pain, as of a woman in travail.
25 Don't go to the field! Don't walk down the road! The enemy is armed with swords! Terror is everywhere!”
Go not forth into the field, Nor walk ye in the highway! For the sword of the enemy And terror are on every side.
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 thee with sackcloth, And roll thyself in ashes! Make thee mourning as for an only son, Most bitter lamentation! For suddenly shall the spoiler come upon 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 set thee, like a tower, for an assayer among my people, That thou mayst know and try their way.
28 They're all stubborn rebels going around talking slander. They are hard as bronze and iron; they are all corrupt.
They are all stubborn revolters, Slanderers are they, brass and iron; They are all corrupt.
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 burn; The lead is consumed by the fire; The refiner hath melted in vain, For the bad are not separated.
30 They are identified as impure silver to be rejected, because the Lord has rejected them.
Rejected silver shall men call them, Because Jehovah hath rejected them.
