Jeremiah 6
6
Threatened Siege of Jerusalem
1“Run for cover#Ex 9:19; Is 10:31; Jr 4:6
out of Jerusalem, Benjaminites.
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,#6:1 = 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 a crushing blow.
2Though she is beautiful and delicate,
I will destroy#6:2 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’s destroy her fortresses.”
6For this is what the Lord of Armies 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.#6:7 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 Armies 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#6:10 Or and bear witness
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised,#6:10 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 gathering of young men as well.
For both husband and wife will be captured,
the old with the very old.#6:11 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 detestably?
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 words.
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,#Jr 50:41–43 an army is coming from a northern land;#Jr 50:41–43
a great nation will be stirred up
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 our hands have become weak.
Distress has seized us —
pain, like a woman in labor.#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
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#6:26 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#6:27 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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Jeremiah 6: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 6
6
1Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem: for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction. 2The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. 3Shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. 4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day declineth, 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 hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 7As a well casteth forth her waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and wounds. 8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee; lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
9Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. 10To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their 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 every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. 14They have healed also the hurt of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. 16Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein. 17And I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they said, We will not hearken.
18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 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 as for my law, they have rejected it. 20To what purpose cometh there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me. 21Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people: and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish. 22Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 23They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses; every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion. 24We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman in travail. 25Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, and terror 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 spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 27I have made thee a tower and a fortress among my people; that thou mayest know and try their way. 28They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal corruptly. 29The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away. 30Refuse silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
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