Jeremiah 6
6
The Lord’s Rejection of Judah
1“Take cover, people of Benjamin!
Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow the ram’s horn in Tekoa.
Raise the flag over Beth Hakkerem,
because disaster and widespread destruction
are coming from the north.
2“My people Zion are like lovely pastures.
3With their flocks, shepherds will come to them,
pitch their tents all around them,
and each of them will tend his own flock.
4 ⌞The shepherds say,⌟ ‘Prepare yourselves for war against Zion.
Let’s attack at noon!
How horrible it will be for us. The day is passing,
and the shadows of evening are growing longer.
5Let’s attack at night and destroy its palaces.’ ”
6This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Cut down its trees.
Build up dirt mounds to attack Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression in it.
7As a well keeps its water fresh,
so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh.
Violence and destruction can be heard in it.
I see that it is sick and wounded.
8Pay attention to my warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you.
I will make your land desolate,
a land where no one will live.
9This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Thoroughly pick through the faithful few of Israel
like someone picks through a grapevine.
Like someone picking grapes, pass your hand over its branches again.
10Whom can I speak to?
Whom can I give a warning to?
Who will listen?
Their ears are plugged,
and they aren’t able to pay attention.
When the Lord speaks his word to them,
they show contempt for it and object to it.
11I am filled with the anger of the Lord.
I am tired of holding it in.
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the gangs of young men.
A man and his wife will be taken away
as well as very old people.
12Their households, their fields, and their wives
will be turned over to others.
I will use my power against those who live in the land,”
declares the Lord.
13“All of them, from the least important to the most important,
are eager to make money dishonestly.
All of them, from prophets to priests, act deceitfully.
14They treat my people’s wounds as though they were not serious, saying,
‘Everything is alright! Everything is alright!’
But it’s not alright.
15Are they ashamed when they do disgusting things?
No, they’re not ashamed.
They don’t even know how to blush.
So they will die with those who die.
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 which paths are the old, reliable paths.
Ask which way leads to blessings.
Live that way, and find a resting place for yourselves.
But you said that you wouldn’t live that way.
17I posted watchmen over you.
Pay attention to the sound of the ram’s horn.
But you said that you wouldn’t pay attention.
18Listen, you nations,
and learn, you witnesses, what will happen to them.
19Listen, earth!
I’m going to bring disaster on these people.
It is the result of their own plots,
because they won’t pay attention to my words.
They reject my teachings.
20Incense that comes from Sheba is no good to me.
Sugar cane that comes from a distant land is no good to me.
I won’t accept your burnt offerings.
I’m not pleased with your sacrifices.
21This is what the Lord says:
I’m going to lay stumbling blocks in front of these people.
Parents and children will stumble over them.
Neighbors and their friends will die.
22This is what the Lord says:
An army is going to come from the north.
A great nation is preparing itself in the distant parts of the earth.
23Its people take hold of bows and spears.
They are cruel and have no compassion.
They sound like the roaring sea.
They ride on horses.
They march like soldiers ready for battle
against my people Zion.
24We have heard the news about them.
Our hands hang limp.
We are gripped by anguish and pain
like a woman giving birth to a child.
25Don’t go into the field or walk on the road.
The enemy has a sword.
Terror is all around.
26Wear sackcloth, and roll around in ashes, my people.
Mourn as if you have lost your only child, and cry bitterly.
The destroyer will suddenly attack us.
27“Jeremiah, I have put you in charge of testing and refining my people.
You will know how to test their ways.
28They are all vicious rebels.
They go around slandering.
They are all like bronze and iron.
They corrupt themselves.
29The bellows of the blast furnace blow fiercely
to make the fire melt away the lead.
It is useless to go on refining
because the impurities can’t be removed.
30 ⌞People⌟ will call them useless silver
because the Lord has rejected them.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. 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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