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.
2Jerusalem is a lovely pasture,
3but shepherds will surround it
and divided 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 noon.
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 injustice and violence
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.
12 #
Jr 8.10-12. I'll punish the people of Judah
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.
14 #
Ez 13.10. All they ever offer
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.
18So I tell all nations on earth,
“Watch what I will do!
19My 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,
neighbors and friends.
An Army from the North
22The Lord said,
“Look toward 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 pile.”
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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Jeremiah 6: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 6
6
Jerusalem Under Siege
1Flee for refuge, children of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the shofar in Tekoa and raise a signal in Beth-cherem! For disaster looms from the north, even terrible destruction.
2“The lovely, delicate Daughter of Zion I will cut off.”
3Shepherds with their flocks are coming against her. All around her they pitch their tents, each pasturing in his own place.
4“Prepare for war against her. Rise up! Let’s attack at noon.” “Oy for us! For day is fading— evening shadows are lengthening.”
5“Rise up! Let’s attack at night and destroy her palaces.”
6For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Chop down her trees! Raise a siege ramp at Jerusalem. This city must be punished— in her midst is only oppression.
7As a well gushes out its waters, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and havoc are heard in her, sickness and wounds ever before Me.
8Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I abandon you, lest I make you desolate— an uninhabited land.”
9Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Glean the remnant of Israel thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand over the branches once more, like a grape-gatherer.”
10“To whom can I speak and warn so they would hear? See, their ears are uncircumcised, unable to hear! The word of Adonai has become scorn to them. They have no delight in it.
11So I am full of the wrath of Adonai. I am weary of holding it in! Pour it out on a child in the street, on young men gathered together. For husband will be taken with wife, the aged with the very old.
12Their homes will be turned over to others—together with their fields and their wives. For I will stretch out My hand on the inhabitants of the land.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
13“For from the least to the greatest, all of them are greedy for gain, and from prophet even to kohen, everyone practices deceit.
14They healed the wound of My people superficially, saying ‘Shalom, shalom!’ when there is no shalom.”
15""Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at al ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among thos who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,"" says Adonai.
16Thus says Adonai: “Stand in the roads and look. Ask for the ancient paths— where the good way is— and walk in it. Then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We won’t walk in it.’
17So I set watchmen over you, saying ‘Listen to the sound of the shofar!’ But they said, ‘We won’t listen.’
18Therefore hear, O nations and observe, O congregation, what is against them.
19Hear, O earth! See, I will bring disaster on this people —fruit of their schemes— for they did not listen to My words and rejected My Torah.
20Of what use to Me is frankincense coming from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to Me.”
Destruction from the North
21Therefore thus says Adonai: “Look, I am laying before this people stumbling blocks— and against them they will stumble— fathers and the sons together, a neighbor and his friend, and they will perish.”
22Thus says Adonai: “Look, a people coming from a northern land, a great nation roused from the ends of the earth!
23They are armed with bow and spear, cruel and with no compassion. They sound like the roaring sea— as they ride on horses as men in battle formation, against you, Daughter of Zion!”
24“We have heard of their fame. Our hands hang limp; anguish has gripped us, pain like a woman in labor.
25Don’t go out into the field or walk on the road. Since the enemy has a sword, there’s terror on every side!”
26“Daughter of My people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn as for an only son with bitter lamentation.” “For suddenly the destroyer will come on us!”
27“I have made you a metal-tester among My people—so you may observe and test their way.
28They are all stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron, all of them are corrupt.
29The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain, for the wicked are not drawn off.
30They are called ‘cast off silver’— for Adonai has cast them off.”
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