Jeremiah 6
6
Jerusalem Is Surrounded
1“Run for your lives, people of Benjamin!
Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow the war trumpet in the town of Tekoa!
Raise the warning flag over the town of Beth Hakkerem!
Disaster is coming from the north.
Terrible destruction is coming to you.
2Jerusalem, I will destroy you.
You are fragile and gentle.
3Shepherds with their flocks will come against Jerusalem.
They will set up their tents all around her.
Each shepherd will take care of his own section.”
4They say, “Get ready to fight against Jerusalem!
Get up! We will attack at noon!
But it is already getting late.
The evening shadows are growing long.
5So get up! We will attack at night.
We will destroy the strong towers of Jerusalem!”
6This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Cut down the trees around Jerusalem.
Build an attack ramp to the top of Jerusalem’s walls.
This city must be punished!
Inside this city is nothing but slavery.
7Jerusalem pours out her evil
as a well pours out its water.
The sounds of violence and destruction are heard within her.
I can see the sickness and hurts of Jerusalem.
8Listen to this warning, Jerusalem.
If you don’t listen, I will turn my back on you.
I will make your land an empty desert.
No one will be able to live there!”
9This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Gather the few people of Israel who are left alive.
Gather them as you would the last grapes on a grapevine.
Check each vine again,
like someone who gathers grapes.”
10To whom can I speak? Whom can I warn?
Who will listen to me?
The people of Israel have closed ears!
So they cannot hear my warnings.
They don’t like the word of the Lord.
They don’t want to listen to it!
11But I am full of the anger of the Lord.
I am tired of holding it in.
“Pour out the Lord’s anger on the children who play in the street.
Pour it out on the young men gathered together.
A husband and his wife will both be caught in his anger.
The very old people will be caught in it.
12Their houses will be turned over to others.
Their fields and wives will be given away.
I will raise my hand
and punish the people of Judah,” says the Lord.
13“Everyone, from the least important to the greatest,
is greedy for money.
Even the prophets and priests
all tell lies.
14They try to heal my people’s serious injuries
as if they were small wounds.
They say, ‘It’s all right, it’s all right!’
But really, it is not all right.
15They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act.
But they are not ashamed at all.
They don’t even know how to blush about their sins.
So they will fall, along with everyone else.
They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them,” says the Lord.
16This is what the Lord says:
“Stand where the roads cross and look.
Ask where the old way is.
Ask where the good way is, and walk on it.
If you do, you will find rest for yourselves.
But you have said, ‘We will not walk on the good way!’
17I chose watchmen to watch over you.
I told you, ‘Listen for the sound of the war trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
18So listen, all you nations.
Pay attention, you witnesses.
Watch what I will do to the people of Judah.
19Hear this, people of the earth:
I am going to bring disaster to the people of Judah!
It will happen because of the evil they plan.
They have not listened to my messages.
They have rejected my teachings.
20Why do you bring me offerings of incense from the land of Sheba?
Why do you bring me sweet-smelling cane from a faraway land?
Your burnt offerings will not be accepted.
Your sacrifices do not please me.”
21So this is what the Lord says:
“I will put problems in front of Judah.
Fathers and sons will stumble over them.
Neighbors and friends will die.”
22This is what the Lord says:
“Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north.
A great nation is coming
from the far sides of the earth.
23The soldiers carry bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring ocean
when they ride their horses.
That army is coming lined up for battle.
It is coming to attack you, Jerusalem.”
24We have heard the news about that army.
We are helpless from fear.
We feel trapped by our troubles.
We are in pain like a woman having a baby.
25Don’t go out into the fields.
Don’t walk down the roads!
This is because the enemy has swords.
There is terror on every side.
26My people, put on rough cloth
and roll in the ashes to show how sad you are.
Cry loudly for those who are dead.
Cry as if your only son had died.
Do it because the destroyer
will soon come against us.
27“Jeremiah, I have made you like a worker who tests metal.
And my people are like the ore for the metal.
You must observe their ways.
And you must test them.
28My people have turned against me and are stubborn.
They go around telling lies about people.
They are like bronze and iron,
that became covered with rust.
29The fire is fanned to make it hotter.
But the lead does not melt.
The pure silver does not come out.
And the evil is not removed from my people.
30My people will be called rejected silver.
They will be given that name because the Lord has rejected them.”
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Jeremiah 6: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 6
6
Threatened Siege of Jerusalem
1“Run for cover, # Ex 9:19; Is 10:31; Jr 4:6 Benjaminites,
out of Jerusalem!
Sound the ram’s horn # Jr 4:5; 51:27; Am 3:6 in Tekoa; # 2Sm 14:2; 2Ch 11:6; 20:20
raise a smoke signal # Jdg 20:38,40; Neh 3:14 over Beth-haccherem, # = House of the Vineyard
for disaster threatens from the north, # Jr 1:13; 4:6,20; 6:22; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41; 51:48
even great destruction.
2Though she is beautiful and delicate,
I will destroy # Or silence Daughter Zion.
3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents all around her. # Jr 4:17
Each will pasture his own portion.
4Set them apart for war # Jr 51:27; Mc 3:5 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 us destroy her fortresses.”
6For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Cut down the trees; # Dt 20:19-20
raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression within her. # Is 30:12; 59:9-15; Jr 22:17; Ezk 22:7,12,29; Am 3:9; Hab 1:3
7As a well gushes out its water,
so she pours out her evil. # Or well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps her evil fresh
Violence and destruction # Jr 20:8; Am 3:10; Hab 1:3 resound in her.
Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.
8Be warned, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you; # Ezk 23:18; Hs 9:12
I will make you a desolation,
a land without inhabitants. # Jr 9:11; 25:9; 29:18; 34:22; Ezk 30:12
Wrath on Israel
9This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Glean the remnant of Israel # Is 10:20; Jr 31:7; Ezk 9:8; 11:13; Mc 2:12; Zph 3:13
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 # Or and bear witness
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised, # They are unresponsive to God. # Lv 26:41; Jr 9:26; Ezk 44:7,9
so they cannot pay attention.
See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them —
they find no pleasure in it. # 1Sm 15:23; Jr 8:9
11But I am full of the Lord’s wrath;
I am tired of holding it back. # Jr 20:9; Hs 5:10
Pour it out on the children in the street, # Jr 9:21
on the gang of young men as well.
For both husband and wife will be captured,
the old with the very old. # Lit with fullness of days
12Their houses will be turned over to others, # Jr 8:10-12
their fields and wives as well,
for I will stretch out My hand # Ex 3:20; Jr 15:6; Ezk 6:14; 14:13; 25:7; Zph 1:4
against the inhabitants of the land.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13For from the least to the greatest of them, # Est 1:20; Jr 8:10; 31:34; 42:1,8; 44:12
everyone is making profit dishonestly. # Pr 1:19; 15:27; Hab 2:9
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely. # Jr 5:31; 8:10; 14:14; 20:6; 23:14,25,26,32; 27:10,14-16; 28:15; 29:9,21,31; Lm 2:14; Zch 13:3
14They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially,
claiming, “Peace, peace,” # 1Ch 12:18; Is 57:19
when there is no peace.
15Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently?
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation. # Jr 3:3; 8:12
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse, # Jr 8:10-12
says the Lord.
Disaster because of Disobedience
16This is what the Lord says:
Stand by the roadways and look.
Ask about the ancient paths: # Is 59:8; Jr 18:15; Jb 24:13; Pr 8:20; 12:28
Which is the way to what is good?
Then take it
and find rest for yourselves. # Mt 11:29
But they protested, “We won’t!”
17I appointed watchmen over you # Is 21:11; 58:1; Hs 9:8
and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.
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, # Pr 1:31
for they have paid no attention to My word.
They have rejected My instruction. # Is 5:24; Jr 23:17
20What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba # 1Kg 10:1; Is 60:6
or sweet cane # Ex 30:23; Is 43:24; Ezk 27:19 from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please Me. # Ps 40:6; Is 1:11; 43:23; 66:3; Hs 9:4; Am 5:21; Mc 6:6; Mal 1:10
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; # Is 8:15; Jr 31:9; Ezk 7:19
friends and neighbors will also perish.
A Cruel Nation from the North
22This is what the Lord says:
Look, an army is coming from a northern land; # Is 13:4; Jr 1:13; 6:1; 38:3; Lm 1:15; Ezk 38:15; Jl 2:25
a great nation will be awakened
from the remote regions of the earth. # Jr 25:32; 31:8
23They grasp bow and javelin.
They are cruel and show no mercy. # Is 13:18; Jr 50:42; Hab 1:6-17
Their voice roars like the sea, # Is 5:30; 17:12
and they ride on horses,
lined up like men in battle formation
against you, Daughter Zion.
24We have heard about it,
and we are discouraged. # Lit and our hands fail
Distress has seized us —
pain like a woman in # Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Jr 4:31; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9-10; 1Th 5:3 labor. # Jr 50:41-43
25Don’t go out to the fields;
don’t walk on the road.
For the enemy has a sword;
terror is on every side. # Ps 31:13; Jr 20:3,10; 49:29
26My dear # Lit Daughter of My people, dress yourselves in sackcloth
and roll in the dust. # Jr 25:34; Ezk 27:30; Mc 1:10
Mourn as you would for an only son, # Am 8:10
a bitter lament,
for suddenly the destroyer # Ex 12:23; Is 21:2; 54:16; Jr 48:8,15,18,32; 1Co 10:10; Heb 11:28 will come on us. # Is 47:11; Jr 4:20; 15:8
Jeremiah Appointed as an Examiner
27I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people —
a refiner # Text emended; MT reads fortress —
so you may know and assay their way of life. # 1Ch 29:17; Ps 7:9; Pr 17:3
28All are stubborn rebels
spreading slander. # Lv 19:16; Pr 11:13; 20:19; Is 1:23
They are bronze and iron;
all of them are corrupt. # 2Ch 27:2; Is 1:4
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. # 1Sm 15:23,26; Jr 2:37; 7:29
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