6
Threatened Siege of Jerusalem
1“Run for cover, # Ex 9:19; Is 10:31; Jr 4:6 Benjaminites,
out of Jerusalem!
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, # = 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 great destruction.
2Though she is beautiful and delicate,
I will destroy # 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 us destroy her fortresses.”
6For this is what the Lord of Hosts 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. # 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 Hosts 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 # Or and bear witness
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised, # 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 gang of young men as well.
For both husband and wife will be captured,
the old with the very old. # 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 abhorrently?
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 word.
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, an army is coming from a northern land; # Is 13:4; Jr 1:13; 6:1; 38:3; Lm 1:15; Ezk 38:15; Jl 2:25
a great nation will be awakened
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 we are discouraged. # Lit and our hands fail
Distress has seized us —
pain like a woman in # 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 labor. # Jr 50:41-43
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 # 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 # 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