Jeremiah 6:1-30
6 Take shelter, O sons of Benjamin, away from Jerusalem.
Blow the horn+ in Te·koʹa;+Light a fire signal over Beth-hac·cheʹrem!
For a calamity looms from the north, a great disaster.+
2 The daughter of Zion resembles a beautiful and delicate woman.+
3 The shepherds and their droves will come.
They will pitch their tents all around her,+Each grazing the flock in his care.+
4 “Prepare for* war against her!
Rise up, and let us attack her at midday!”
“Woe to us, for the day is declining,For the shadows of evening are getting longer!”
5 “Rise up, and let us attack during the nightAnd destroy her fortified towers.”+
6 For this is what Jehovah of armies says:
“Cut down wood and raise up a siege rampart against Jerusalem.+
She is the city that must be held to account;There is nothing but oppression within her.+
7 As a cistern keeps its water cool,*So she keeps her wickedness cool.*
Violence and destruction are heard in her;+Sickness and plague are constantly before me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem, or I* will turn away from you in disgust;+I will make you desolate, a land without inhabitants.”+
9 This is what Jehovah of armies says:
“They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as the last grapes on a vine.
Pass your hand again like one gathering grapes from the vines.”
10 “To whom should I speak and give warning?
Who will listen?
Look! Their ears are closed,* so that they are unable to pay attention.+
Look! The word of Jehovah has become something they scorn;+They find no pleasure in it.
11 So I am filled with the wrath of Jehovah,And I am tired of holding it in.”+
“Pour it out on the child in the street,+On the groups of young men gathered together.
They will all be captured, a man along with his wife,The old men along with the very old.*+
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,Together with their fields and their wives.+
For I will stretch my hand out against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Jehovah.
13 “For from the least to the greatest, each one is making dishonest gain;+From the prophet to the priest, each one is practicing fraud.+
14 And they try to heal the breakdown* of my people lightly,* saying,‘There is peace! There is peace!’
When there is no peace.+
15 Do they feel ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
They feel no shame at all!
They do not even know how to feel humiliated!+
So they will fall among the fallen.
When I bring punishment on them they will stumble,” says Jehovah.
16 This is what Jehovah says:
“Stand at the crossroads and see.
Ask about the ancient roadways,Ask where the good way is, and walk in it,+And find rest for yourselves.”*
But they say: “We will not walk in it.”+
17 “And I appointed watchmen+ who said,‘Pay attention to the sound of the horn!’”+
But they said: “We will not pay attention.”+
18 “Therefore hear, O nations!
And know, O assembly,What will happen to them.
19 Listen, O earth!
I am bringing calamity on this people+As the fruitage of their own schemes,For they paid no attention to my wordsAnd they rejected my law.”*
20 “What do I care that you bring frankincense from SheʹbaAnd sweet cane* from a distant land?
Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable,And your sacrifices do not please me.”+
21 Therefore this is what Jehovah says:
“Here I am setting for this people stumbling blocks,And they will stumble over them,Fathers and sons together,A neighbor and his companion,And they will all perish.”+
22 This is what Jehovah says:
“Look! A people is coming from the land of the north,And a great nation will be awakened from the remotest parts of the earth.+
23 They will grab hold of the bow and the javelin.
They are cruel and will have no mercy.
Their voice will roar like the sea,And they ride on horses.+
They draw up in battle order like a man of war against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the report about it.
Our hands fall limp;+Distress has seized us,Anguish* like that of a woman giving birth.+
25 Do not go out into the field,And do not walk on the road,For the enemy has a sword;There is terror all around.
26 O daughter of my people,Put on sackcloth+ and roll in the ashes.
Mourn as for an only son, with bitter wailing,+For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.+
27 “I have made you* a metal tester among my people,One making a thorough search;You must take note and examine their way.
28 All of them are the most stubborn men,+Walking about as slanderers.+
They are like copper and iron;All of them are corrupt.
29 The bellows have been scorched.
Out from their fire there is lead.
One keeps refining intensely simply for nothing,+And those who are bad have not been separated.+
30 Rejected silver is what people will certainly call them,For Jehovah has rejected them.”+
