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.
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 6: CEVUK
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
Jeremiah 6
6
Jerusalem under siege
1‘Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Flee from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster looms out of the north,
even terrible destruction.
2I will destroy Daughter Zion,
so beautiful and delicate.
3Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents round her,
each tending his own portion.’
4‘Prepare for battle against her!
Arise, let us attack at noon!
But, alas, the daylight is fading,
and the shadows of evening grow long.
5So arise, let us attack at night
and destroy her fortresses!’
6This is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘Cut down the trees
and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished;
it is filled with oppression.
7As a well pours out its water,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence and destruction resound in her;
her sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8Take warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you
and make your land desolate
so that no-one can live in it.’
9This is what the Lord Almighty says:
‘Let them glean the remnant of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine;
pass your hand over the branches again,
like one gathering grapes.’
10To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed#6:10 Hebrew uncircumcised
so that they cannot hear.
The word of the Lord is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
11But I am full of the wrath of the Lord,
and I cannot hold it in.
‘Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.
12Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,’
declares the Lord.
13‘From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practise deceit.
14They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
15Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,’
says the Lord.
16This is what the Lord says:
‘Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, “We will not walk in it.”
17I appointed watchmen over you and said,
“Listen to the sound of the trumpet!”
But you said, “We will not listen.”
18Therefore hear, you nations;
you who are witnesses,
observe what will happen to them.
19Hear, you earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
20What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.’
21Therefore this is what the Lord says:
‘I will put obstacles before this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble over them;
neighbours and friends will perish.’
22This is what the Lord says:
‘Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north;
a great nation is being stirred up
from the ends of the earth.
23They are armed with bow and spear;
they are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, Daughter Zion.’
24We have heard reports about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped us,
pain like that of a woman in labour.
25Do not go out to the fields
or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
and there is terror on every side.
26Put on sackcloth, my people,
and roll in ashes;
mourn with bitter wailing
as for an only son,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27‘I have made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
28They are all hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.
29The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
30They are called rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.’
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
The Holy Bible, New International Version® (Anglicised), NIV®
Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.