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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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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Jeremiah 6
6
1 Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem.
And in Tekoa blow a horn,
and on Beth-haccherem lift up a signal,
for evil looks down from the north,
and a great destruction.
2The lovely and the delicate,
the daughter of Jerusalem, I will destroy.
3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her,
they will pitch their tents against her all around,
they will pasture, each his portion.#Literally “hand”
4Sanctify#Or “Consecrate” war against her.
Arise, and let us attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day turns,
for the shadows of evening are lengthened.
5Arise, and let us attack by night,
and let us destroy her citadel fortresses.”
6For thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Cut down trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished,
its oppression is in its midst.
7As a water well keeps its water cool,
so she keeps cool her wickedness.
Violence and destruction are heard within her,
sickness and wounds#Hebrew “wound” are continually before me.#Literally “at the face of me”
8Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I turn away from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
a land that is not inhabited.”
9Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine,
turn back your hand over the branches like a grape-gatherer.
10To whom shall I speak and admonish,
that they may hear?
Look, their ears are closed,#Literally “uncircumcised”
and they are not able to listen attentively.
Look, the word of Yahweh is to them an object of scorn,
they do not delight in it.
11But I am full with the wrath of Yahweh,
I struggle to hold it#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation in.
Pour it out on the children#Hebrew “child” in the street,
and on the assemblies#Hebrew “assembly” of young men at the same time.
For even husband with wife will get trapped,
the old with him who is full of days.
12And their houses will be turned over to others,
their fields and their wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
13“For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them,
everyone#Literally “all of him” makes profit for unlawful gain.
And from the prophet to the priest,
everyone#Literally “all of him” practices deceit.
14And they have treated the wound of my people lightly,
saying,#Literally “to say” ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.
15Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing?
Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated.
Therefore#Literally “To thus” they will fall among those who fall at the time I punish them,
they will stumble,” says Yahweh.
16Thus says Yahweh: “Stand at the roads and look,
and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is,
and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves.#Hebrew “inner self”
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’#Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
17And I raised up watchmen over you:
‘Listen attentively to the sound of a horn.’
But they said, ‘We will not listen attentively.’
18Therefore#Literally “To thus” hear, O nations, and know, O community,
what will happen to them.#Literally “what among them”
19Hear, O earth,
look, I am about to bring disaster to this people,
the fruit of their plans,
because they have not listened attentively to my words,
and my teaching, they have rejected it also.
20What is this to me?
Frankincense comes from Sheba,
and the precious spice reed from a distant land.
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,#Literally “for acceptance”
your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”
21Therefore#Literally “To thus” thus says Yahweh:
“Look, I am about to put before this people stumbling blocks,
and they will stumble against them,
fathers and children together,
neighbor and his friend will perish.”
22Thus says Yahweh:
“Look, a people is coming from the land of the north,
a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth.
23The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel,
and they show no mercy.
Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride,
drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24We have heard news of it,
our hands grow slack,
anxiety has grasped us,
pain as a woman who gives birth.
25You must not go out into the field,
and you must not walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword,#Literally “a sword for enemy”
terror is all around.
26O daughter of my people,
gird yourself with sackcloth,
and roll about in the ashes in mourning,
a mourning ceremony as for an only child.
Make for yourself wailing of bitterness,
for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
27“I have made you an assayer among my people, a fortification,
so that you may know and put to the test their ways.#Hebrew “way”
28All of them are stubborn rebels,
going about talking slander.
They are bronze and iron,
they are all behaving corruptly.
29The bellows#Hebrew “bellow” are burned up,
lead is consumed by fire.
In vain#Literally “To the vanity” he keeps on refining,#Literally “he refines refining”
but the wicked are not torn apart.
30They are called#Literally “They call to them” rejected silver,
For Yahweh has rejected them.”
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