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.
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 And [your] pride, O daughter of Sion, shall be taken away.
O daughter of Zion, the comely and delicate, Thee have I doomed to destruction!
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 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 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, [[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 Rise, and let us go up against her by night, and destroy her foundations.
Arise, and let us go up by night, And let us destroy her palaces!”
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 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 As a cistern cools water, so her wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her, [as] continually before her.
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 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.
Receive correction, O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be alienated from thee, Lest I make thee a desolation, A land not inhabited!
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 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 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? 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 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 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 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.
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 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, Every one is greedy of gain; Prophet and priest alike, Every one of them practiseth deceit.
14 And they healed the breach of my people [imperfectly], making light [of it], and saying, Peace, peace, and where is peace?
They heal the wound of my people slightly, Saying, Peace! peace! when there is 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.
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 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 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 have set watchmen over you, [saying], Hear you the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hear [it].
I have also set watchmen over you, [[saying, ]] Hearken to the sound of the trumpet! But they say, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.
Therefore hear, O ye nations, And know, ye assembled multitude, What shall come upon 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 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 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 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 Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold, I [will] bring weakness upon this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
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 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 Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the land of the North; A great nation riseth up from the extremities 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 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 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 report thereof; Our hands lose their strength; Anguish hath taken hold of us, Pain, as of a woman in travail.
25 Go not forth into the field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.
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 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.
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 I have caused you to be tried among tried nations, and you shall know me when I have tried their way.
I have set thee, like a tower, for an assayer among my people, That thou mayst know and try their way.
28 [They are] all disobedient, walking perversely: [they are] brass and iron; they are all corrupted.
They are all stubborn revolters, Slanderers are they, brass and iron; They are all corrupt.
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 burn; The lead is consumed by the fire; The refiner hath melted in vain, For the bad are not separated.
30 Call you them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.
Rejected silver shall men call them, Because Jehovah hath rejected them.
