Jeremiah 6

THREATENED SIEGE OF JERUSALEM

6“Run for cover^o out of Jerusalem, Benjaminites.

Sound the trumpet^p in Tekoa;^q

raise a smoke signal^r over Beth-haccherem,^A

for disaster threatens from the north,^s

even a crushing blow.

²Though she is beautiful and delicate,

I will destroy^B Daughter Zion.

³Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;

they will pitch their tents all around her.^t

Each will pasture his own portion.

⁴Set them apart for war^u against her;

rise up, let’s attack at noon.

Woe to us, for the day is passing;

the evening shadows grow long.

⁵Rise up, let’s attack by night.

Let’s destroy her fortresses.”

⁶For this is what the Lord of Armies says:

Cut down the trees;^v

raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.

This city must be punished.

There is nothing but oppression within her.^w

⁷As a well gushes out its water,

so she pours out her evil.^C

Violence and destruction^x resound in her.

Sickness and wounds keep coming to my attention.

⁸Be warned, Jerusalem,

or I will turn away from you;^y

I will make you a desolation,

a land without inhabitants.^z

WRATH ON ISRAEL

⁹This is what the Lord of Armies says:

Glean the remnant of Israel^aa

as thoroughly as a vine.

Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer

over the branches.

¹⁰Who can I speak to and give such a warning^D

that they will listen?

Look, their ear is uncircumcised,^Eab

so they cannot pay attention.

See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—

they find no pleasure in it.^ac

¹¹But I am full of the Lord’s wrath;

I am tired of holding it back.^a

Pour it out on the children in the street,^b

on the gathering of young men as well.

For both husband and wife will be captured,

the old with the very old.^F

¹²Their houses will be turned over to others,^c

their fields and wives as well,

for I will stretch out my hand^d

against the inhabitants of the land.

This is the Lord’s declaration.

¹³For from the least to the greatest of them,^e

everyone is making profit dishonestly.^f

From prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.^g

¹⁴They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially,

claiming, “Peace, peace,”^h

when there is no peace.

¹⁵Were they ashamed when they acted so detestably?

They weren’t at all ashamed.

They can no longer feel humiliation.ⁱ

Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.

When I punish them, they will collapse,^j

says the Lord.

DISASTER BECAUSE OF DISOBEDIENCE

¹⁶This is what the Lord says:

Stand by the roadways and look.

Ask about the ancient paths,^k

“Which is the way to what is good?”

Then take it

and find rest for yourselves.^l

But they protested, “We won’t!”

¹⁷I appointed watchmen over you^m

and said, “Listen for the sound of the trumpet.”

But they protested, “We won’t listen!”

¹⁸Therefore listen, you nations

and you witnesses,

learn what the charge is against them.

¹⁹Listen, earth!

I am about to bring disaster on these people,

the fruit of their own plotting,ⁿ

for they have paid no attention to my words.

They have rejected my instruction.^o

²⁰What use to me is frankincense from Sheba^p

or sweet cane^q from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;

your sacrifices do not please me.^r

²¹Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people;

fathers and sons together will stumble over them;^s

friends and neighbors will also perish.

A CRUEL NATION FROM THE NORTH

²²This is what the Lord says:

Look,^t an army is coming from a northern land;^u

a great nation will be stirred up

from the remote regions of the earth.^v

²³They grasp bow and javelin.

They are cruel and show no mercy.^w

Their voice roars like the sea,^x

and they ride on horses,

lined up like men in battle formation

against you, Daughter Zion.

²⁴We have heard about it,

and our hands have become weak.

Distress has seized us—

pain, like a woman in labor.^y

²⁵Don’t go out to the fields;

don’t walk on the road.

For the enemy has a sword;

terror is on every side.^z

²⁶My dear^A people, dress yourselves in sackcloth

and roll in the dust.^aa

Mourn as you would for an only son,^ab

a bitter lament,

for suddenly the destroyer^ac will come on us.^ad

JEREMIAH APPOINTED AS AN EXAMINER

²⁷I have appointed you to be an assayer among my people—

a refiner^B—

so you may know and assay their way of life.^a

²⁸All are stubborn rebels

spreading slander.^b

They are bronze and iron;

all of them are corrupt.^c

²⁹The bellows blow,

blasting the lead with fire.

The refining is completely in vain;

the evil ones are not separated out.

³⁰They are called rejected silver,

for the Lord has rejected them.^d