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
Destruction of Jerusalem Impending
1“Run for safety, you children of Benjamin,
Out of the midst of Jerusalem!
And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah]
And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem];
For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north,
And great destruction.
2I will destroy the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), the lovely and delicate one [so like a luxurious pasture].
3Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
They will pitch their tents all around her;
They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].
4[They shout], ‘Prepare for war against her;
Arise, let us [take her by surprise and] attack her at noon.
But alas, the daylight pales,
The evening shadows grow long.
5Arise, let us [awaken to] attack her at night
And destroy her [fortified] palaces!’ ”
6For the Lord of hosts has said,
“Cut down her trees
And build a siege [mound] against Jerusalem.
This is the city which must be punished;
There is nothing but oppression inside her [walls].
7As a fountain springs up and pours out its fresh waters,
So she [continually] pours out her fresh wickedness.
Violence and destruction are heard inside her [walls];
Sickness and wounds are always before Me.
8Be wise and be warned, O Jerusalem,
Or I will be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
An uninhabited land.”
9Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“They will thoroughly gather like [fruit on] a vine what is left of Israel;
Pass your hand [over the vine] again and again [Babylon, tool of destruction] like a grape gatherer,
Over the branches [stripping the tendrils off the vine].”
10To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warning
That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are #Lit uncircumcised.closed [absolutely deaf to God]
And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them;
They have no delight in it.
11But I am full of the wrath (judgment) of the Lord;
I am tired of restraining it.
“[I will] pour it out on the children in the street
And on the young men gathered together;
For both the husband and wife shall be taken,
The aged and the very old [though full of days they are not exempt from judgment].
12Their houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together;
For I will stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord.
13“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for [unfair] gain;
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals deceitfully.
14They have treated superficially the [bloody] broken wound of My people,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
When there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry].
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them
They will be overthrown,” says the Lord.
16Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is; then walk in it,
And you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
17I have set watchmen (prophets) over you,
Saying, ‘Listen and pay attention to the [warning] sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations,
And see, O congregation, what [vengeful act] is to be done to them.
19Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The fruit of their schemes,
Because they have not listened and paid attention to My words,
And as for My law, they have rejected it also.
20For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from #Located in southwestern Arabia, Sheba was ruled by the priest-kings of the Sabeans whose primary deity was Attar, a god of procreation. The ruins of the capital city of Mariaba attest to the splendor of the ancient kingdom. The Queen of Sheba visited Solomon the king of Israel in about 950 b.c. The purpose of her 1,200 mile journey was most likely to establish a fair trade agreement. Incense was among the most desirable and valuable exports of Sheba.Sheba
And the sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not sweet and pleasing to Me.”
21Therefore, thus says the Lord,
“Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.
The fathers and the sons together
Will stumble against them;
The neighbor and his friend will perish.”
The Enemy from the North
22Thus says the Lord,
“Behold, a people is coming from the north country,
And a great nation shall be stirred up and put into action from the remote parts of the earth.
23They seize bow and spear;
They are cruel and inhuman and have no mercy.
Their voice sounds like the roaring sea;
They ride [in formation] on horses,
Arrayed as a man for battle
Against you, O Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)!”
24We have heard the report of it;
Our hands become limp and helpless.
Anguish has gripped us,
Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.
25Do not go out into the field
Nor walk on the road,
For the enemy is armed with the sword;
Terror is on every side.
26O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],
Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;
Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,
A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],
For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].
27“I [the Lord] have set you as an assayer [O Jeremiah] and as a tester [of the ore] of My people,
That you may know and analyze their acts.”
28They are all the worst [kind] of [stiff-necked, godless] rebels,
Going around spreading slander.
They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron;
They are all corrupt.
29The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain they continue refining,
But the wicked are not separated and removed.
30They call them rejected silver [only dross, without value],
Because the Lord has rejected them.
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