Jeremiah 6
6
Jerusalem’s Last Warning
1“Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem!
Sound the alarm in Tekoa!
Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem!
A powerful army is coming from the north,
coming with disaster and destruction.
2O Jerusalem,#6:2 Hebrew Daughter of Zion. you are my beautiful and delicate daughter—
but I will destroy you!
3Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city.
Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.
4They shout, ‘Prepare for battle!
Attack at noon!’
‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading,
and the evening shadows are falling.’
5‘Well then, let’s attack at night
and destroy her palaces!’”
6This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Cut down the trees for battering rams.
Build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
for she is wicked through and through.
7She spouts evil like a fountain.
Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction.
I always see her sickness and sores.
8Listen to this warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn from you in disgust.
Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins,
a land where no one lives.”
9This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Even the few who remain in Israel
will be picked over again,
as when a harvester checks each vine a second time
to pick the grapes that were missed.”
Judah’s Constant Rebellion
10To whom can I give warning?
Who will listen when I speak?
Their ears are closed,
and they cannot hear.
They scorn the word of the Lord.
They don’t want to listen at all.
11So now I am filled with the Lord’s fury.
Yes, I am tired of holding it in!
“I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets
and on gatherings of young men,
on husbands and wives
and on those who are old and gray.
12Their homes will be turned over to their enemies,
as will their fields and their wives.
For I will raise my powerful fist
against the people of this land,”
says the Lord.
13“From the least to the greatest,
their lives are ruled by greed.
From prophets to priests,
they are all frauds.
14They offer superficial treatments
for my people’s mortal wound.
They give assurances of peace
when there is no peace.
15Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions?
Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush!
Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered.
They will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
Judah Rejects the Lord’s Way
16This is what the Lord says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’
17I posted watchmen over you who said,
‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’
But you replied,
‘No! We won’t pay attention!’
18“Therefore, listen to this, all you nations.
Take note of my people’s situation.
19Listen, all the earth!
I will bring disaster on my people.
It is the fruit of their own schemes,
because they refuse to listen to me.
They have rejected my word.
20There’s no use offering me sweet frankincense from Sheba.
Keep your fragrant calamus imported from distant lands!
I will not accept your burnt offerings.
Your sacrifices have no pleasing aroma for me.”
21Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“I will put obstacles in my people’s path.
Fathers and sons will both fall over them.
Neighbors and friends will die together.”
An Invasion from the North
22This is what the Lord says:
“Look! A great army coming from the north!
A great nation is rising against you from far-off lands.
23They are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like a roaring sea
as they ride forward on horses.
They are coming in battle formation,
planning to destroy you, beautiful Jerusalem.#6:23 Hebrew daughter of Zion.”
24We have heard reports about the enemy,
and we wring our hands in fright.
Pangs of anguish have gripped us,
like those of a woman in labor.
25Don’t go out to the fields!
Don’t travel on the roads!
The enemy’s sword is everywhere
and terrorizes us at every turn!
26Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap
and sit among the ashes.
Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son.
For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you!
27“Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals,#6:27 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads a tester of my people a fortress.
that you may determine the quality of my people.
28They are the worst kind of rebel,
full of slander.
They are as hard as bronze and iron,
and they lead others into corruption.
29The bellows fiercely fan the flames
to burn out the corruption.
But it does not purify them,
for the wickedness remains.
30I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’
for I, the Lord, am discarding them.”
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Jeremiah 6: NLT
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Jeremiah 6
6
Jeremiah 6
1¶ O ye sons of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem and blow the shofar in Tekoa and set up as a sign smoke in Bethhaccerem; for evil appears out of the north wind and great destruction.
2I shall liken the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
3The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed each one his portion.
4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up towards the south. Woe unto us! for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6For thus hath the Lord of the hosts said, Hew ye down trees and cast a mount against Jerusalem; this is the city that all of her is to be visited; there is violence in the midst of her.
7As the waters never cease to flow from a fountain, so her wickedness never ceases to flow; injustice and robbery is heard in her; in my presence continually, sickness and wounds.
8Chastise Jerusalem lest peradventure my soul be disjointed from thee, lest peradventure I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9¶ Thus hath the Lord of the hosts said, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
10To whom shall I speak, and give warning that they may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken, behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
11Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I have worked hard to hold myself in from pouring it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for the husband with the wife shall also be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them each one is given to greed; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.
14They treat also the destruction of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore, they shall fall among those that shall fall: at the time that I visit them they shall fall, saith the Lord.
16Thus hath the Lord said, Stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the shofar. But they said, We will not hearken.
18¶ Therefore hear, ye Gentiles, and know, O congregation of Gentiles.
19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts because they have not hearkened unto my words, and they hated my law.
20To what purpose does this incense come to me from Sheba and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not according to my will, nor are your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22Thus hath the Lord said, Behold, a people come from the land of the north wind, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and they shall have no mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea; and they shall ride upon horses set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail.
25Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people; thou shalt know and examine their way.
28They are all rebellious princes; they walk with deception: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29The bellows are burned; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away.
30Reprobate silver shall men call them because the Lord has rejected them.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International