Jeremiah 6
6
A warning for the people of Jerusalem
The LORD said:
1Run for your lives,
people of Benjamin.
Get out of Jerusalem.
Sound a trumpet in Tekoa
and light a signal fire
in Beth-Haccherem.
Soon you will be struck
by disaster from the north.
2-3Jerusalem is a lovely pasture,
but shepherds will surround it
and divide it up,
then let their flocks
eat all the grass.#6.2,3 Jerusalem…grass: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4Kings will tell their troops,
“If we reach Jerusalem
in the morning,
we'll attack at midday.
But if we arrive later,
5we'll attack after dark
and destroy its fortresses.”
6I am the LORD All-Powerful,
and I will command these armies
to chop down trees
and build a ramp up to the walls
of Jerusalem.
People of Jerusalem,
I must punish you
for your injustice.
7Evil pours from your city
like water from a spring.
Sounds of violent crimes
echo within your walls;
victims are everywhere,
wounded and dying.
8Listen to me,
you people of Jerusalem
and Judah.
I will abandon you,
and your land will become
an empty desert.
9I will tell your enemies
to leave your nation bare
like a vine stripped of grapes.
I, the LORD All-Powerful,
have spoken.
Jeremiah's anger
10I have told the people
that you, LORD,
will punish them,
but they just laugh
and refuse to listen.
11Your anger against Judah
flames up inside me,
and I can't hold it in
much longer.
The LORD's anger will sweep everyone away
The LORD answered:
Don't hold back my anger!
Let it sweep away everyone—
the children at play
and all adults,
young and old alike.
12I'll punish the people of Judah#Jr 8.10-12.
and give to others
their houses and fields,
as well as their wives.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13Everyone is greedy and dishonest,
whether poor or rich.
Even the prophets and priests
cannot be trusted.
14All they ever offer#Ez 13.10.
to my deeply wounded people
are empty hopes for peace.
15They should be ashamed
of their disgusting sins,
but they don't even blush.
And so, when I punish Judah,
they will end up on the ground,
dead like everyone else.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
The people of Judah rejected God's way of life
16The LORD said:
My people, when you stood
at the crossroads,
I told you, “Follow the road
your ancestors took,
and you will find peace.”
But you refused.
17I also sent prophets
to warn you of danger,
but when they sounded the alarm,
you paid no attention.
18-19So I tell all nations on earth,
“Watch what I will do!
My people ignored me
and rejected my laws.
They planned to do evil,
and now the evil they planned
will happen to them.”
20People of Judah,
you bring me incense from Sheba
and spices from distant lands.
You offer sacrifices of all kinds.
But why bother?
I hate these gifts of yours!
21So I will put stumbling blocks
in your path,
and everyone will die,
including parents and children,
neighbours and friends.
An army from the north
22The LORD said,
“Look towards the north,
where a powerful nation
has prepared for war.
23Its well armed troops are cruel
and never show mercy.
Their galloping horses sound
like ocean waves
pounding on the shore.
This army will attack you,
lovely Jerusalem.”
24Then the people said,
“Just hearing about them
makes us tremble with fear,
and we twist and turn in pain
like a woman giving birth.”
25The LORD said,
“Don't work in your fields
or walk along the roads.
It's too dangerous.
The enemy is well armed
26and attacks without warning.
So mourn, my people, as though
your only child had died.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth#6.26 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.
and roll in the ash heap.”
The LORD's people must be tested
The LORD said:
27Jeremiah, test my people
as though they were metal.
28And you'll find they are hard
like bronze and iron.
They are stubborn rebels,
always spreading lies.
29-30Silver can be purified
in a fiery furnace,
but my people are too wicked
to be made pure,
and so I have rejected them.
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 6
6
1Run and hide, descendants of Benjamin,#6:1. Jerusalem was part of the original territory of Benjamin. get out of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa; light a signal fire in Beth-haccherem, for disaster and terrible destruction is arriving from the north. 2Even though she is pretty and delightful, I will destroy#6:2. The word used here usually means to “resemble,” but is used in the sense of “destroy” in Hosea 4:5. the Daughter of Zion.
3“Shepherds” and their “flocks”#6:3. Clearly an allusion to the invading armies with their generals. will come to attack her; they will set up their tents all around her, each one looking after his own. 4They get ready for battle against her, saying, “Come on, we'll attack at noon! Oh no, the day is almost over, the evening shadows are growing long. 5Come on, we'll attack at night instead and destroy her fortresses!”
6This is what the Lord Almighty says: Cut down the trees and make a siege ramp to use against Jerusalem. This city needs to be punished because it's full of people mistreating one another. 7Like a spring gushing out#6:7. “Gushing out”: or “keeping cool.” water, so she pours out her evil. The sounds of violence and abuse echo inside her. I see people sick and wounded everywhere. 8I'm warning you, people of Jerusalem, I'm going to give up on you in disgust. I will destroy you and leave your country uninhabited.
9This is what the Lord Almighty says: Even those left in Israel will be taken, just as grapes left on a vine are taken by the one harvesting the grapes who checks the branches again.
10Who can I give this warning to? Who's going to listen to me? Can't you see that they refuse to listen?#6:10. “They refuse to listen”: literally, “They have uncircumcised ears.” They can't hear what I'm saying. See how offensive the Lord's message is to them. They don't like it at all.
11But as for me, I'm full of the Lord's anger; I have a hard time keeping it in.
The Lord replies,#6:11. “The Lord replies”: supplied for clarity. Pour it out on children in the street, and on groups of young people, because both husband and wife are going to be captured—it's everyone, and it doesn't matter how old they are. 12Their houses will be given to others, their fields and wives too, because I'm going to punish everyone living in this country, declares the Lord.
13Everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars! 14They give my wounded people first aid, but they don't really care about them. They tell them, “Don't worry! We have peace!” even as war approaches.
15Were they ashamed of the disgusting things they did? No, they weren't ashamed at all, they couldn't even blush. So they will fall just like the others, when I punish them; they will drop down dead, says the Lord.
16This is what the Lord says: Go and stand where the roads divide, and look. Find out which are the old paths. Ask, “What's the right way?” Then follow it and you'll be content.#6:16. “You'll be content:” literally, “you'll find rest for your souls.” But you refused, saying, “We won't go that way!” 17I put watchmen in charge of you and told you, Make sure you listen for the trumpet call warning you of danger. But you answered, “We won't listen!”
18So now you other nations can listen and find out what's going to happen to them.
19Earth, you listen too! I am bringing disaster down on this people, the end result of what they themselves planned. It's because they paid no attention to what I said, and rejected my instructions.
20What's the point of offering me frankincense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a faraway land? I don't accept your burnt offerings; I'm not pleased with your sacrifices.
21So this is what the Lord says: I'm going to put blocks in front of these people to trip them up. Fathers and sons will fall down dead, friends and neighbors too.
22This is what the Lord says: Look! An army is invading from the north; a powerful nation is getting ready to attack all the way from the ends of the earth. 23They pick up their bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their war cries are like the sea roaring, and they ride horses lined up ready to attack you, Daughter of Zion.
24The people reply,#6:24. “The people reply”: supplied for clarity. “We've heard the news, and our hands are limp with shock! We're overcome with agony, suffering pain like a woman in labor. 25Don't go to the field! Don't walk down the road! The enemy is armed with swords! Terror is everywhere!”
26Oh my people, put on sackcloth and roll around in ashes. Mourn and cry bitterly like you would for an only son, because the destroyer will come down on you suddenly.
27Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals so you can test my people as if they were metal, so you can know what they're made of and how they act. 28They're all stubborn rebels going around talking slander. They are hard as bronze and iron; they are all corrupt. 29The bellows in the refiner's furnace blow powerfully, burning away the lead. But this refining is pointless, because the wicked are not purified. 30They are identified as impure silver to be rejected, because the Lord has rejected them.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com