Jeremiah 6
1 “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.
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 Jerusalem is [like] a beautiful pasture [full of sheep], but it will soon be destroyed.
O daughter of Zion, the comely and delicate, Thee have I doomed to destruction!
3 [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.
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 [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,
“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 we will attack them at night and tear down their fortresses.”
Arise, and let us go up by night, And let us destroy her palaces!”
6 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.
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 [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.
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 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.”
Receive correction, O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be alienated from thee, Lest I make thee a desolation, A land not inhabited!
9 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)].”
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 [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.
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 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.
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 [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.
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 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].
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 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.
They heal the wound of my people slightly, Saying, Peace! peace! when there is no peace.
15 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.”
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 [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!’
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 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.’
I have also set watchmen over you, [[saying, ]] Hearken to the sound of the trumpet! But they say, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore, you people in the other nations, listen to this: Pay attention to what is going to happen to the [Israeli people].
Therefore hear, O ye nations, And know, ye assembled multitude, What shall come upon them!
19 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.
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 [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.
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, 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.”
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 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].
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 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.”
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 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.
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 [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.’”
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 [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].”
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 [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.
I have set thee, like a tower, for an assayer among my people, That thou mayst know and try their way.
28 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.
They are all stubborn revolters, Slanderers are they, brass and iron; They are all corrupt.
29 [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.
The bellows burn; The lead is consumed by the fire; The refiner hath melted in vain, For the bad are not separated.
30 [I], Yahweh, have rejected them; I say that they are [like] [MET] worthless silver.”
Rejected silver shall men call them, Because Jehovah hath rejected them.
