< 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.
confortamini filii Beniamin in medio Hierusalem et in Thecua clangite bucina et super Bethaccharem levate vexillum quia malum visum est ab aquilone et contritio magna
2 Jerusalem is [like] a beautiful pasture [full of sheep], but it will soon be destroyed.
speciosae et delicatae adsimilavi filiam Sion
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.
ad eam venient pastores et greges eorum fixerunt in ea tentoria in circuitu pascet unusquisque eos qui sub manu sua sunt
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,
sanctificate super eam bellum consurgite et ascendamus in meridie vae nobis quia declinavit dies quia longiores factae sunt umbrae vesperi
5 we will attack them at night and tear down their fortresses.”
surgite et ascendamus in nocte et dissipemus domos eius
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.
quia haec dicit Dominus exercituum caedite lignum eius et fundite circa Hierusalem aggerem haec est civitas visitationis omnis calumnia in medio eius
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.
sicut frigidam facit cisterna aquam suam sic frigidam fecit malitiam suam iniquitas et vastitas audietur in ea coram me semper infirmitas et plaga
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.”
erudire Hierusalem ne forte recedat anima mea a te ne forte ponam te desertam terram inhabitabilem
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)].”
haec dicit Dominus exercituum usque ad racemum colligent quasi in vinea reliquias Israhel converte manum tuam quasi vindemiator ad cartallum
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.
cui loquar et quem contestabor ut audiant ecce incircumcisae aures eorum et audire non possunt ecce verbum Domini factum est eis in obprobrium et non suscipient illud
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.
idcirco furore Domini plenus sum laboravi sustinens effunde super parvulum foris et super concilium iuvenum simul vir enim cum muliere capietur senex cum pleno dierum
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.
et transibunt domus eorum ad alteros agri et uxores pariter quia extendam manum meam super habitantes terram dicit Dominus
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].
a minore quippe usque ad maiorem omnes avaritiae student et a propheta usque ad sacerdotem cuncti faciunt dolum
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.
et curabant contritionem filiae populi mei cum ignominia dicentes pax pax et non erat pax
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.”
confusi sunt quia abominationem fecerunt quin potius confusione non sunt confusi et erubescere nescierunt quam ob rem cadent inter ruentes in tempore visitationis suae corruent dicit Dominus
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!’
haec dicit Dominus state super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris et dixerunt non ambulabimus
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.’
et constitui super vos speculatores audite vocem tubae et dixerunt non audiemus
18 Therefore, you people in the other nations, listen to this: Pay attention to what is going to happen to the [Israeli people].
ideo audite gentes et cognosce congregatio quanta ego faciam eis
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.
audi terra ecce ego adducam mala super populum istum fructum cogitationum eius quia verba mea non audierunt et legem meam proiecerunt
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.
ut quid mihi tus de Saba adfertis et calamum suave olentem de terra longinqua holocaustomata vestra non sunt accepta et victimae vestrae non placuerunt mihi
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.”
propterea haec dicit Dominus ecce ego dabo in populum istum ruinas et ruent in eis patres et filii simul vicinus et proximus et peribunt
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].
haec dicit Dominus ecce populus venit de terra aquilonis et gens magna consurget a finibus terrae
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.”
sagittam et scutum arripiet crudelis est et non miserebitur vox eius quasi mare sonabit et super equos ascendent praeparati quasi vir ad proelium adversum te filia Sion
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.
audivimus famam eius dissolutae sunt manus nostrae tribulatio adprehendit nos dolores ut parturientem
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.’”
nolite exire ad agros et in via ne ambuletis quoniam gladius inimici pavor in circuitu
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].”
filia populi mei accingere cilicio et conspergere cinere luctum unigeniti fac tibi planctum amarum quia repente veniet vastator super nos
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.
probatorem dedi te in populo meo robustum et scies et probabis viam eorum
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.
omnes isti principes declinantum ambulantes fraudulenter aes et ferrum universi corrupti sunt
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.
defecit sufflatorium in igne consumptum est plumbum frustra conflavit conflator malitiae enim eorum non sunt consumptae
30 [I], Yahweh, have rejected them; I say that they are [like] [MET] worthless silver.”
argentum reprobum vocate eos quia Dominus proiecit illos

< Jeremiah 6 >