Jeremiah 6

English Standard Version

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

6 Flee for safety, ^(A)O people of Benjamin,
    from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in ^(B)Tekoa,
    and raise a signal on ^(C)Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms ^(D)out of the north,
    and great destruction.
²The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
    ^(E)the daughter of Zion.^[a]
³^(F)Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
    ^(G)they shall pitch their tents around her;
    they shall pasture, each in his place.
⁴^(H)“Prepare war against her;
    arise, and let us attack ^(I)at noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
    for the shadows of evening lengthen!
⁵Arise, and let us attack by night
    and destroy her palaces!”

⁶For thus says the Lord of hosts:
^(J)“Cut down her trees;
    ^(K)cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be ^(L)punished;
    there is nothing but oppression within her.
⁷^(M)As a well keeps its water fresh,
    so she keeps fresh her evil;
^(N)violence and destruction are heard within her;
    sickness and wounds are ever before me.
⁸Be warned, O Jerusalem,
    ^(O)lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you ^(P)a desolation,
    an uninhabited land.”

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts:
^(Q)“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
    the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
    over its branches.”
¹⁰^(R)To whom shall I speak and give warning,
    that they may hear?
^(S)Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
    ^(T)they cannot listen;
behold, ^(U)the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
    they take no pleasure in it.
¹¹Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
    ^(V)I am weary of holding it in.
^(W)“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
    and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
^(X)both husband and wife ^(Y)shall be taken,
    the elderly and the very aged.
¹²^(Z)Their houses shall be turned over to others,
    their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
    against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the Lord.
¹³^(AA)“For from the least to the greatest of them,
    everyone ^(AB)is greedy for unjust gain;
and from ^(AC)prophet to priest,
    everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
    saying, ^(AD)‘Peace, peace,’
    ^(AE)when there is no peace.
¹⁵^(AF)Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
    No, they were not at all ashamed;
    they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
    ^(AG)at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the Lord.

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
    and ask for ^(AH)the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
    ^(AI)and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
¹⁷^(AJ)I set watchmen over you, saying,
    ‘Pay attention to ^(AK)the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ^(AL)‘We will not pay attention.’
¹⁸Therefore hear, O nations,
    and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
¹⁹Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
    ^(AM)the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
    and as for my law, they have rejected it.
²⁰^(AN)What use to me is ^(AO)frankincense that comes from ^(AP)Sheba,
    or sweet cane from a distant land?
^(AQ)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
    nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
²¹Therefore thus says the Lord:
^(AR)‘Behold, I will lay before this people
    stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
    neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

²²Thus says the Lord:
^(AS)“Behold, a people is coming ^(AT)from the north country,
    a great nation is stirring from ^(AU)the farthest parts of the earth.
²³They lay hold on bow and javelin;
    they are ^(AV)cruel and have no mercy;
    ^(AW)the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
    set in array as a man for battle,
    against you, O daughter of Zion!”
²⁴We have heard the report of it;
    ^(AX)our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    ^(AY)pain as of a woman in labor.
²⁵Go not out into the field,
    nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
    ^(AZ)terror is on every side.
²⁶O daughter of my people, ^(BA)put on sackcloth,
    and ^(BB)roll in ashes;
^(BC)make mourning as for an only son,
    most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
    will come upon us.

²⁷“I have made you ^(BD)a tester of metals among my people,
    that you may know and ^(BE)test their ways.
²⁸^(BF)They are all stubbornly rebellious,
    ^(BG)going about with slanders;
they are ^(BH)bronze and iron;
    all of them act corruptly.
²⁹The ^(BI)bellows blow fiercely;
    the lead is consumed by the fire;
^(BJ)in vain the refining goes on,
    for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰^(BK)Rejected silver they are called,
    for the Lord has rejected them.”