Jeremiah 6
6
Prepare for war
1Escape, people of Benjamin,
get out of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
sound the alarm in Beth-haccherem;
for disaster looms from the north,
massive devastation.
2You are like a lovely pasture, Daughter Zion.#6.2 Heb uncertain
3Shepherds come to her with their flocks.
They pitch their tents around her
and graze in their place.
4“Prepare for battle against her;
get ready; let’s attack by noon!
Oh, no! Daylight is fading,
and the evening shadows lengthen.
5Get ready, let’s attack by night
and destroy her fortresses!”
6The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
Cut down her trees,
and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.
This city must be held accountable,#6.6 Heb uncertain
for there’s nothing but oppression in her midst.
7As a well brings forth fresh water,
she brings forth evil.
Violence and destruction are heard within her;
injury and wounds are ever before me.
8Hear me out,#6.8 Or Accept correction Jerusalem,
or else I’ll turn away from you
and reduce you to ruins,
a land unfit to live in.
Unresponsive people
9This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says:
From top to bottom, let them harvest
the remaining few in Israel.
Pick clean every
last grape on the vine!
10To whom can I speak and warn?
How can I get someone’s attention?
Their ears are shut tight,#6.10 Or uncircumcised
so they won’t hear.
They are ashamed of the LORD’s word
and take no pleasure in it.
11But I’m filled with the LORD’s rage
and am tired of holding it in.
Pour it out on the children in the streets
and on the youths gathered together;
husband with wife will be trapped,
as will those old and gray.
12Their homes will be turned over to others,
their fields and wives as well.
I will stretch out my hand
against the people of this land,
declares the LORD.
13From the least to the greatest,
each is eager to profit;
from prophet to priest,
each trades in dishonesty.
14They treat the wound of my people
as if it were nothing:
“All is well, all is well,” they insist,
when in fact nothing is well.
15They should be ashamed
of their detestable practices,
but they have no shame;
they don’t even blush!
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen
and stumble when I bring disaster,
declares the LORD.
16The LORD proclaims:
Stop at the crossroads and look around;
ask for the ancient paths.
Where is the good way?
Then walk in it
and find a resting place for yourselves.
But you#6.16 Or they said, “We won’t go!”
17Still, I have appointed watchmen to warn you.
But you#6.17 Or they said, “We won’t listen!”
18Therefore, pay attention, nations;
take notice, assembly,
what is ahead of them.#6.18 Heb uncertain
19Pay attention, earth:
I’m bringing disaster upon my people,
the fruit of their own devices,
because they have ignored my words
and they have rejected my teaching.
20What use to me is incense from Sheba
or sweet cane from a faraway land?
Your entirely burned offerings won’t buy your pardon;
your sacrifices won’t appease me.
21Therefore, the LORD proclaims:
I’m putting obstacles before this people,
and both parents and children will stumble over them;
neighbor and friend alike will perish.
Panic-stricken Zion
22The LORD proclaims:
An army is on the move
from the northern regions;
a great nation is roused
from the ends of the earth.
23Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel;
they show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound
like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation
against you, Daughter Zion.
24We have heard reports of them
and are panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
25Don’t go out into the field!
Don’t walk on the road!
The enemies’ sword
terrorizes at every turn.
26My people,
put on funeral clothes and roll in ashes;
weep and wail as for an only child,
because the destroyer will suddenly descend upon us.
Prophet as tester
27I have made you a tester of metals,
to examine my people#6.27 Heb uncertain
to know and prove their ways.
28They are tin#6.28 Or bronze and iron;
they are headstrong and rebellious.
They live to slander.
They act corruptly—every last one!
29The bellows roar;
the lead is consumed.#6.29 Heb uncertain
Yet the refining fails;
the impurities#6.29 Or wicked remain.
30They are called “rejected silver,”
for the LORD has rejected them.
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 6
6
Siege of Jerusalem
1#Ne 3:14; Jdg 1:21 O sons of Benjamin, gather yourselves
to flee from the midst of Jerusalem,
and blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
and set up a sign of fire in Beth Hakkerem;
for disaster appears out of the north,
and great destruction.
2#Isa 1:8; Jer 4:31 I have likened the daughter of Zion
to a comely and delicate woman.
3#Lk 19:43 The shepherds with their flocks will come to her.
They will pitch their tents against her all around.
They will pasture each in his place.
4#Jer 15:8; Joel 3:9 “Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us go up at noon.”
“Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.”
5#Isa 32:14; Jer 52:13 “Arise, and let us go by night
and let us destroy her palaces.”
6For thus says the Lord of Hosts:
Hew down trees
and build a mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished.
She is full of oppression in her midst.
7#Eze 7:11; 7:23 As a fountain casts out her waters,
so she casts out her wickedness.
Violence and devastation are heard in her;
before Me continually are grief and wounds.
8#Eze 23:18; Hos 9:12 Be instructed, O Jerusalem,
lest My soul depart from you;
lest I make you desolate,
a land not inhabited.
9#Jer 16:16; 49:9Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
They will thoroughly glean
the remnant of Israel as a vine.
Turn back your hand
as a grape gatherer into the baskets.
10#Ac 7:51; Jer 7:26 To whom shall I speak and give warning
that they may hear?
See, their ears are closed,
and they cannot listen.
Indeed, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
they have no delight in it.
11#Jer 9:21; 20:9 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord;
I am weary with holding in.
I will 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 who is full of days.
12#Jer 8:10; Isa 5:25 Their houses shall be turned to others,
with their fields and wives together;
for I will stretch out My hand
upon the inhabitants of the land,
says the Lord.
13#Jer 8:10; 23:11 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
everyone is given to covetousness.
And from the prophet even to the priest,
everyone deals falsely.
14#Eze 13:10; Jer 4:10 They have healed also the brokenness
of the daughter of My people superficially,
saying, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
15#Jer 3:3; 8:12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
They were not at all ashamed,
nor could they blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them they shall be cast down,
says the Lord.
16#Jer 18:15; Isa 8:20Thus says the Lord
Stand in the ways and see,
and ask for the old paths
where the good way is and walk in it,
and you shall find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
17#Isa 21:11; 58:1 Also I set watchmen over you, saying,
“Listen to the sound of the trumpet.”
But they said, “We will not listen.”
18Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation,
what is among them.
19#Jer 8:9; Isa 1:2 Hear, O earth.
I will bring calamity on this people,
even the fruit of their thoughts,
because they have not listened to My words,
nor to My law, but rejected it.
20#Isa 1:11; Ps 40:6; Isa 60:6 To what purpose does incense from Sheba come to Me,
and the sweet cane from a far country?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor are your sacrifices sweet to Me.
21#Isa 8:14; 9:14–17Therefore thus says the Lord:
See, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
and the fathers and the sons together will fall upon them.
The neighbor and his friend will perish.
22#Jer 10:22; 50:41–43Thus says the Lord:
See, a people comes
from the north country,
and a great nation will be raised
from the remote parts of the earth.
23#Isa 13:18; Jer 50:42 They will lay hold on bow and spear;
they are cruel and have no mercy.
Their voice roars like the sea,
and they ride upon horses,
set in array as men for war
against you, O daughter of Zion.
24#Jer 4:31; 49:24 “We have heard the report of it;
our hands grow feeble.
Anguish has taken hold of us,
and pain as of a woman in labor.
25#Jer 49:29; Job 18:11 Do not go out into the field,
nor walk on the road.
For the sword of the enemy
and terror is on every side.”
26#Jer 4:8; Zec 12:10 O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth
and wallow in ashes.
Mourn as for an only son,
a most bitter lamentation;
for the destroyer
shall suddenly come upon us.
27#Jer 1:18; 15:20 I have set you as an assayer
and fortress among My people
that you may know
and try their way.
28#Jer 9:4; 5:23 They all are stubborn rebels
walking about practicing slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all are corrupters.
29The bellows blow fiercely,
the lead is consumed by the fire;
the founder melts in vain,
for the wicked are not plucked away.
30#Ps 119:119; Isa 1:22 Men will call them rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.
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