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.
“You people in Jerusalem who are from [the tribe of] Benjamin, flee from this city! Blow the trumpets in Tekoa [city south of Jerusalem]! Send up a [smoke] signal in Beth-Haccherem [town] [to warn the people of the coming danger]! A powerful [army] will come from the north, and they will cause great destruction.
2 And [your] pride, O daughter of Sion, shall be taken away.
Jerusalem is [like] a beautiful pasture [full of sheep], but it will soon be destroyed.
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.
[Enemy kings, not] shepherds [MET], will come [with their armies] and set up their tents around the city, and each [king will choose a part of the city for his soldiers to destroy like] [MET] shepherds divide their pastures for their flocks of sheep.
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.
[The kings will tell their troops], “Get ready for the battle. We should attack them before noontime. But [if we arrive there late in the afternoon] when the shadows are becoming long,
5 Rise, and let us go up against her by night, and destroy her foundations.
we will attack them at night and tear down their fortresses.”
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.
Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, says this: “[I will command those soldiers to] cut down the trees [outside Jerusalem] and to build dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls [in order that they can enter the city]. This city must be punished because everyone there continually oppresses others.
7 As a cistern cools water, so her wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her, [as] continually before her.
[It is as though] the wicked things that the people do pour out of the city like [SIM] water flows out of a spring. [The noise from people doing] violent and destructive actions is heard everywhere. I continually see [people who are] suffering and wounded.
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.
Listen to what I am warning you, [you people of] [APO] Jerusalem, because if you do not listen, I will reject you and cause your land to become desolate, a land where no one lives.”
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.
Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, also says this: “[I will tell your enemies] to cause your country to become as desolate [SIM] as a vineyard from which all the grapes have been completely stripped from the vines. [Their soldiers will seize the possessions of] those who remain in Israel [after the others have been exiled] like [SIM] farmers go to the vines again to pick any grapes [that were (left/not picked)].”
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.
[Then I said, “If I speak to the Israeli people] to warn them, (who will listen to me?/No one will listen to me.) [RHQ] [It is as though] their ears are closed, [and as a result] they cannot hear [what I say]. They scorn Yahweh’s messages; they do not want to listen to them at all.
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.
So [now] I am extremely angry, like Yahweh is angry, and I cannot restrain it any longer.” [So] Yahweh said [to me], “Tell everyone that you are very angry with them. Tell the children in the streets and the young men who gather together. Tell the men and their wives; tell the very old people [DOU], also.
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.
[Tell the men that] I will give their houses to [their enemies], and I will give their property/fields and their wives to them, also, when I punish [IDM] the people who live in this land.
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.
Everyone is trying to get money by tricking others, from the most [important people] to the least [important people]; even the prophets and the priests are trying to deceive [people to get money].
14 And they healed the breach of my people [imperfectly], making light [of it], and saying, Peace, peace, and where is peace?
[They act as though the sins of my people are like] [MET] small wounds that they do not need to put bandages on. They continually [greet people by] saying ‘I hope things are going well with you,’ when things are not going well.
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 should be [RHQ] ashamed about the disgusting things that they do, but they are not ashamed at all. They do not [even] know how to (blush/show on their faces that they are ashamed). So, they also will be among those who will be killed. They will be destroyed when I punish them.”
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].
This is [also] what Yahweh said [to the Israeli people]: “Stand at the crossroads and look [at the people who pass by]. Ask them what was the good behavior [that their ancestors had] long ago. [And when they tell you], behave that way. If you do that, you will find rest for your souls.” But you replied, ‘We do not want to do that!’
17 I have set watchmen over you, [saying], Hear you the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hear [it].
I sent [my prophets who were like] [MET] watchmen. They said, ‘Listen carefully when we blow the trumpets [to warn you that your enemies are approaching],’ but you said, ‘[No], we do not want to listen.’
18 Therefore have the nations heard, and they that feed their flocks.
Therefore, you people in the other nations, listen to this: Pay attention to what is going to happen to the [Israeli people].
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.
Listen, all of you! I am going to cause the [Israeli] people to experience disasters. That is what will happen to them because they have refused to listen to what I told them. They have refused to obey my laws.
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.
[You Israeli people], when you burn frankincense that came from [far away in] Sheba, and [when you offer to me] sweet-smelling anointing oil that came from far away, I will not [RHQ] be pleased with your sacrifices. I will not accept the sacrifices that are completely burned on the altar; I am not pleased with [any of] your sacrifices.
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, I will put obstacles on the roads on which my people will travel. Men and their sons and people’s neighbors and friends will stumble over those obstacles and fall down; everyone will die.”
22 Thus says the Lord, Behold, a people comes from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end of the earth.
Yahweh [also] says this: “You will see a [huge] army marching [towards you] from the north. [An army of] a great nation very far away is preparing [to attack you].
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 have bows [and arrows] and spears; they are [very] cruel, and do not act mercifully [to anyone]. As they ride along on their horses, the horses’ feet sound like the roaring of the ocean [waves]; they are riding in battle formation to attack you people of Jerusalem.”
24 We have heard the report of them: our hands are weakened: anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in travail.
[The people of Jerusalem say], “We have heard reports about the enemy; [so] we are very frightened, with the result that we feel weak. We are very afraid, and worried, like [SIM] women who are about to give birth to babies.
25 Go not forth into the field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.
[So one person says to another], ‘Do not go out into the fields! Do not go on the roads, because the enemy [soldiers] have swords [and they are everywhere]; they are coming from all directions, and we are extremely afraid.’”
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.
[So I say], “My dear people, put on (sackcloth/rough clothes) and sit in ashes [to show that you are sorry for your sins]. Mourn and cry very much, like [SIM] [a woman would cry] if her only son had died, because your enemies are very near, and they are going to destroy [everything].”
27 I have caused you to be tried among tried nations, and you shall know me when I have tried their way.
[Then Yahweh said to me], “[Jeremiah], I have caused you to become [like] [MET] someone who heats metal very hot [to completely burn the impurities]. You will examine my people’s behavior.
28 [They are] all disobedient, walking perversely: [they are] brass and iron; they are all corrupted.
You will find out that they are very stubborn rebels, they are always slandering others. [Their inner beings] are as hard as bronze or iron; they all [continually] deceive others.
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.
[A metalworker causes] the bellows to blow very hard to [make the fire very hot to] completely burn up the impurities [MET]. [But just as] a fire does not cause all the waste material to run off, it is impossible to separate [the righteous people from the wicked people, and punish only] the wicked people.
30 Call you them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.
[I], Yahweh, have rejected them; I say that they are [like] [MET] worthless silver.”
