Jeremiah 6
6
1 FLEE FOR safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem! And blow the trumpet in Tekoa [a town far south in Judah], and raise a [fire] signal over Beth-haccherem [a town near Jerusalem]! For evil is looking forth with eagerness from the north, and great destruction.
2 The comely and delicate one, [Jerusalem] the Daughter of Zion, I will destroy. [To a pasturage, yes, a luxurious pasturage, have I likened her.]
3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents round about her; they shall pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her luxurious herbage on every side].
4 Prepare yourselves for war against her [they cry]; up, let us attack her at noon! But alas, the day declines, the evening shadows lengthen.
5 Arise, let us go by night and destroy her palaces!
6 For the Lord of hosts has said, Hew down her trees and cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.
7 As a fountain wells up and casts forth its waters and keeps them fresh, so she is [continually] casting forth [fresh] wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are continually before Me.
8 Be corrected, reformed, instructed, and warned, O Jerusalem, lest I be alienated and parted from you, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine what is left of Israel; turn back your hand again and again [O minister of destruction] into the baskets, like a grape gatherer, and strip the tendrils [of the vine].
10 To whom shall I [Jeremiah] speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised [never brought into covenant with God or consecrated to His service], and they cannot hear or obey. Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach and the object of their scorn; they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of restraining it. I will pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together; for even the husband with the wife will be taken, the aged with the very old.
12 And their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
13 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness (to greed for unjust gain); and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
14 They have healed also the wound of the daughter of My people lightly and neglectfully, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
15 Were they brought to shame because they had committed abominations (extremely disgusting and vile things)? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it! [Matt. 11:29.]
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hear and obey the sound of the trumpet! But they said, We will not listen or obey.
18 Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations, and know, O congregation [of believing ones], what [great things I will do] to them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts (their schemes and devices) because they have not listened and obeyed My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it.
20 To what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba [in southwestern Arabia] and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices sweet or pleasing to Me.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. And the fathers and the sons together will stumble against them; the neighbor and his friend will perish.
22 Thus says the Lord: Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation is arousing itself from the ends of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel (ruthless and inhuman) and have no mercy. Their voice sounds like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, every one set in array as a man for battle against you, O Daughter of Zion!
24 We have heard the report of it; our hands become feeble and helpless. Anguish has taken hold of us, pangs like that of a woman in childbirth.
25 Go not out into the field nor walk on the road, for the enemy is armed with the sword; terror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], gird yourself with sackcloth and wallow in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us [on prophet and people].
27 I [says the Lord] have set you [Jeremiah] as an assayer and a prover of ore among My people, that you may know and try their doings and be like a watchtower.
28 They are all the worst [kind] of rebels and utter and total revolters against God, going about publishing slander. They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron; they are all corrupters.
29 The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain do they continue refining, for the wicked [the dross] are not removed.
30 Men will call them reprobate and rejected silver [only dross, without good metal], because the Lord has rejected them.
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Jeremiah 6: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Jeremiah 6
6
1Run and hide, descendants of Benjamin,#6:1. Jerusalem was part of the original territory of Benjamin. get out of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa; light a signal fire in Beth-haccherem, for disaster and terrible destruction is arriving from the north. 2Even though she is pretty and delightful, I will destroy#6:2. The word used here usually means to “resemble,” but is used in the sense of “destroy” in Hosea 4:5. the Daughter of Zion.
3“Shepherds” and their “flocks”#6:3. Clearly an allusion to the invading armies with their generals. will come to attack her; they will set up their tents all around her, each one looking after his own. 4They get ready for battle against her, saying, “Come on, we'll attack at noon! Oh no, the day is almost over, the evening shadows are growing long. 5Come on, we'll attack at night instead and destroy her fortresses!”
6This is what the Lord Almighty says: Cut down the trees and make a siege ramp to use against Jerusalem. This city needs to be punished because it's full of people mistreating one another. 7Like a spring gushing out#6:7. “Gushing out”: or “keeping cool.” water, so she pours out her evil. The sounds of violence and abuse echo inside her. I see people sick and wounded everywhere. 8I'm warning you, people of Jerusalem, I'm going to give up on you in disgust. I will destroy you and leave your country uninhabited.
9This is what the Lord Almighty says: Even those left in Israel will be taken, just as grapes left on a vine are taken by the one harvesting the grapes who checks the branches again.
10Who can I give this warning to? Who's going to listen to me? Can't you see that they refuse to listen?#6:10. “They refuse to listen”: literally, “They have uncircumcised ears.” They can't hear what I'm saying. See how offensive the Lord's message is to them. They don't like it at all.
11But as for me, I'm full of the Lord's anger; I have a hard time keeping it in.
The Lord replies,#6:11. “The Lord replies”: supplied for clarity. Pour it out on children in the street, and on groups of young people, because both husband and wife are going to be captured—it's everyone, and it doesn't matter how old they are. 12Their houses will be given to others, their fields and wives too, because I'm going to punish everyone living in this country, declares the Lord.
13Everyone cheats because they're greedy, poor and rich alike. Even prophets and priests—they are all dishonest liars! 14They give my wounded people first aid, but they don't really care about them. They tell them, “Don't worry! We have peace!” even as war approaches.
15Were they ashamed of the disgusting things they did? No, they weren't ashamed at all, they couldn't even blush. So they will fall just like the others, when I punish them; they will drop down dead, says the Lord.
16This is what the Lord says: Go and stand where the roads divide, and look. Find out which are the old paths. Ask, “What's the right way?” Then follow it and you'll be content.#6:16. “You'll be content:” literally, “you'll find rest for your souls.” But you refused, saying, “We won't go that way!” 17I put watchmen in charge of you and told you, Make sure you listen for the trumpet call warning you of danger. But you answered, “We won't listen!”
18So now you other nations can listen and find out what's going to happen to them.
19Earth, you listen too! I am bringing disaster down on this people, the end result of what they themselves planned. It's because they paid no attention to what I said, and rejected my instructions.
20What's the point of offering me frankincense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a faraway land? I don't accept your burnt offerings; I'm not pleased with your sacrifices.
21So this is what the Lord says: I'm going to put blocks in front of these people to trip them up. Fathers and sons will fall down dead, friends and neighbors too.
22This is what the Lord says: Look! An army is invading from the north; a powerful nation is getting ready to attack all the way from the ends of the earth. 23They pick up their bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their war cries are like the sea roaring, and they ride horses lined up ready to attack you, Daughter of Zion.
24The people reply,#6:24. “The people reply”: supplied for clarity. “We've heard the news, and our hands are limp with shock! We're overcome with agony, suffering pain like a woman in labor. 25Don't go to the field! Don't walk down the road! The enemy is armed with swords! Terror is everywhere!”
26Oh my people, put on sackcloth and roll around in ashes. Mourn and cry bitterly like you would for an only son, because the destroyer will come down on you suddenly.
27Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals so you can test my people as if they were metal, so you can know what they're made of and how they act. 28They're all stubborn rebels going around talking slander. They are hard as bronze and iron; they are all corrupt. 29The bellows in the refiner's furnace blow powerfully, burning away the lead. But this refining is pointless, because the wicked are not purified. 30They are identified as impure silver to be rejected, because the Lord has rejected them.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com