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Jeremiah 6-8
New American Standard Bible
Jeremiah 6-8
New American Standard Bible
The Coming Destruction of Jerusalem
6 “Flee to safety, you sons of (A)Benjamin,
From the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow a trumpet in Tekoa
And raise a warning signal over [a](B)Beth-haccerem;
For evil looks down from the (C)north,
Along with a great destruction.
2 The beautiful and (D)delicate one, (E)the daughter of Zion, I will destroy.
3 (F)Shepherds and their flocks will come to her,
They will (G)pitch their tents [b]around her,
They will pasture, each in his [c]place.
4 ‘[d](H)Prepare for war against her;
Arise, and let’s [e]attack at (I)noon.
Woe to us, for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let’s [f]attack by night
And (J)destroy her [g]palaces!’”
6 For this is what the Lord of armies says:
“(K)Cut down her trees
And pile up an (L)assault ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city to be punished,
In whose midst there is only (M)oppression.
7 (N)As a well [h]keeps its waters fresh,
So she [i]keeps fresh her wickedness.
(O)Violence and destruction are heard in her;
(P)Sickness and wounds are constantly before Me.
8 (Q)Be warned, Jerusalem,
Or [j](R)I shall be alienated from you,
And make you a desolation,
An uninhabited land.”
9 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“They will (S)thoroughly glean the (T)remnant of Israel like the vine;
Pass your hand over the branches again
Like a grape gatherer.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning,
That they may hear?
Behold, their (U)ears are [k]closed
And they cannot listen.
Behold, (V)the word of the Lord has become for them a rebuke;
They take no delight in it.
11 But I am (W)full of the wrath of the Lord;
I am (X)weary of holding it in.
“(Y)Pour it out on the children in the street
And on the [l]gathering of young men together;
For both husband and wife shall be taken,
The old [m]and the very old.
12 Their (Z)houses shall be turned over to others,
Their fields and their wives together;
For I will (AA)stretch out My hand
Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord.
13 “For (AB)from the least of them to the greatest of them,
Everyone is (AC)greedy for gain,
And from the prophet to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
14 They have (AD)healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
15 Were they (AE)ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They were not ashamed at all,
Nor did they know even how to be ashamed.
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
At the time that I punish them,
They will collapse,” says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the (AF)ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
Then (AG)you will find a resting place for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 And I set (AH)watchmen over you, saying,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations,
And know, you congregation, what is among them.
19 (AI)Hear, earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
The (AJ)fruit of their [n]plans,
Because they have not listened to My words,
And as for My Law, they have (AK)rejected it also.
20 (AL)For what purpose does (AM)frankincense come to Me from Sheba,
And the [o](AN)sweet cane from a distant land?
(AO)Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”
21 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, (AP)I am [p]placing stumbling blocks before this people.
And they will stumble against them,
(AQ)Fathers and sons together;
Neighbor and [q]friend will perish.”
The Enemy from the North
22 This is what the Lord says:
“Behold, there is (AR)a people coming from the north land,
And a great nation will be stirred up from the (AS)remote parts of the earth.
23 They seize (AT)bow and spear;
They are (AU)cruel and have no mercy;
Their voice (AV)roars like the sea,
And they ride on horses,
Lined up as a man for the battle
Against you, daughter of Zion!”
24 We have (AW)heard the report of it;
Our hands are limp.
(AX)Anguish has seized us,
Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.
25 (AY)Do not go out into the field,
And (AZ)do not walk on the road;
For the enemy has a sword,
(BA)Terror is on every side.
26 Daughter of my people, (BB)put on sackcloth
And (BC)roll in ashes;
[r](BD)Mourn as for an only son,
A most bitter mourning.
For suddenly the destroyer
Will come against us.
27 “I have (BE)made you an assayer and an examiner among My people,
So that you may know and put their way to the test.”
28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
(BF)Going about as a slanderer;
They are (BG)bronze and iron.
They are, all of them, corrupt.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire;
In vain the refining goes on,
But the (BH)wicked are not [s]separated.
30 (BI)They call them rejected silver,
Because the (BJ)Lord has rejected them.
Message at the Temple Gate
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “(BK)Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah, who enter by these gates to worship the Lord!’” 3 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “(BL)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you live in this place. 4 (BM)Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘[t]This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 For (BN)if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly (BO)practice justice between a person and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the [u](BP)orphan, or the widow, and do not shed (BQ)innocent blood in this place, nor (BR)follow other gods to your own ruin, 7 then I will let you (BS)live in this place, in the (BT)land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you are trusting in (BU)deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, [v](BV)offer sacrifices to Baal, and follow (BW)other gods that you have not known, 10 then (BX)come and stand before Me in (BY)this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are saved!’—so that you may do all these abominations? 11 Has (BZ)this house, which is called by My name, become a (CA)den of robbers in your sight? Behold, (CB)I Myself have seen it,” declares the Lord.
12 “But go now to My place which was in (CC)Shiloh, where I (CD)made My name dwell at the beginning, and (CE)see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things,” declares the Lord, “and I spoke to you, (CF)speaking again and again, but you did not listen, and I (CG)called you but you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the (CH)house which is called by My name, (CI)in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, just as I (CJ)did to Shiloh. 15 I will (CK)hurl you out of My sight, just as I have hurled out all your brothers, all the [w]descendants of (CL)Ephraim.
16 “As for you, (CM)do not pray for this people, and do not lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not plead with Me; for I am not listening to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The [x]children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven; and they (CN)pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to (CO)provoke Me to anger. 19 (CP)Are they provoking Me?” declares the Lord. “Is it not themselves instead, to their [y]own (CQ)shame?” 20 Therefore this is what the Lord [z]God says: “Behold, My (CR)anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on human and animal life, and on the (CS)trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn and not be quenched.”
21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your (CT)burnt offerings to your sacrifices and (CU)eat flesh. 22 For I did not (CV)speak to your fathers, or command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [aa]what I commanded them, saying, ‘(CW)Obey My voice, and (CX)I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk [ab]entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may (CY)go well for you.’ 24 Yet they (CZ)did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they [ac](DA)went backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have (DB)sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, again and again. 26 Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but (DC)stiffened their neck; they (DD)did more evil than their fathers.
27 “So you shall (DE)speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will (DF)not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that (DG)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept discipline; [ad](DH)trustworthiness has perished and has been eliminated from their mouth.
29 (DI)Cut off [ae]your hair and throw it away,
And (DJ)take up a song of mourning on the bare heights;
For the Lord has (DK)rejected and forsaken
The generation of His wrath.’
30 For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord. “They have (DL)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 They have (DM)built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to (DN)burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I (DO)did not command, and it did not come into My [af]mind.
32 “(DP)Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter; for they will (DQ)bury in Topheth [ag]because there is no other place. 33 The (DR)dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will (DS)eliminate from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride; for the (DT)land will become a site of ruins.
The Sin and Treachery of Judah
8 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “they will (DU)bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its leaders, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. 2 They will spread them out to the sun, the moon, and to all the (DV)heavenly [ah]lights, which they have loved, which they have served, which they have followed, which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered (DW)nor buried; (DX)they will be like dung on the face of the ground. 3 And (DY)death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the (DZ)places to which I have driven them,” declares the Lord of armies.
4 “You shall say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“Do people (EA)fall and not get up?
Does one turn away and not [ai]repent?
5 Why has this people, Jerusalem,
(EB)Turned away in continual apostasy?
They (EC)hold on to deceit,
They (ED)refuse to return.
6 I (EE)have listened and heard,
They have spoken what is not right;
(EF)No one repented of his wickedness,
Saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turned to his own course,
Like a (EG)horse charging into the battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
(EH)Knows her seasons;
And the (EI)turtledove, the swallow, and the crane
Keep to the time of their [aj]migration;
But (EJ)My people do not know
The judgment of the Lord.
8 “(EK)How can you say, ‘We are wise,
And the Law of the Lord is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has made it into a lie.
9 The wise men are (EL)put to shame,
They are dismayed and caught;
Behold, they have (EM)rejected the word of the Lord,
So what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 Therefore I will (EN)give their wives to others,
Their fields to new owners;
Because from the least even to the greatest
Everyone is (EO)greedy for gain;
From the prophet even to the priest,
Everyone practices deceit.
11 They have (EP)healed the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
12 Were they (EQ)ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They were not ashamed at all,
And they did not know how to be ashamed;
Therefore they will (ER)fall among those who fall;
At the (ES)time of their punishment they will collapse,”
Says the Lord.
13 “I will (ET)certainly snatch them away,” declares the Lord.
“There will be (EU)no grapes on the vine
And (EV)no figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf will wither;
And what I have given them will pass away.”’”
14 Why are we sitting still?
(EW)Assemble yourselves, and let’s (EX)go into the fortified cities
And perish there,
For the Lord our God has doomed us
And given us (EY)poisoned water to drink,
Because (EZ)we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We (FA)waited for peace, but no good came;
For a time of healing, but behold, terror!
16 From (FB)Dan there is heard the snorting of his horses;
At the sound of the neighing of his (FC)stallions
The whole land quakes;
For they come and (FD)devour the land and its fullness,
The city and its inhabitants.
17 “For behold, I am (FE)sending serpents among you,
Vipers for which there is (FF)no charm;
And they will bite you,” declares the Lord.
18 [ak]My (FG)sorrow is beyond healing,
My (FH)heart is faint within me!
19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a (FI)distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they (FJ)provoked Me with their carved images, with foreign [al](FK)idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is over,
And we are not saved.”
21 I am broken over the (FL)brokenness of the daughter of my people.
I (FM)mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (FN)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
(FO)Why then has not the [am]health of the daughter of my people [an]been restored?
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 6:1 I.e., house of the vineyard
- Jeremiah 6:3 Lit against her round about
- Jeremiah 6:3 Lit hand
- Jeremiah 6:4 Lit Sanctify war
- Jeremiah 6:4 Lit go up
- Jeremiah 6:5 Lit go up
- Jeremiah 6:5 Or fortified towers
- Jeremiah 6:7 Lit keeps cold
- Jeremiah 6:7 Lit keeps cold
- Jeremiah 6:8 Lit my soul
- Jeremiah 6:10 Lit uncircumcised
- Jeremiah 6:11 Lit council
- Jeremiah 6:11 Lit with fullness of days
- Jeremiah 6:19 Or devices
- Jeremiah 6:20 Lit good
- Jeremiah 6:21 Lit giving
- Jeremiah 6:21 Lit his friend
- Jeremiah 6:26 Lit Make for yourself mourning
- Jeremiah 6:29 Or drawn off
- Jeremiah 7:4 Lit They are
- Jeremiah 7:6 Or fatherless
- Jeremiah 7:9 Or burn incense
- Jeremiah 7:15 Lit seed
- Jeremiah 7:18 Lit sons
- Jeremiah 7:19 Lit their faces’
- Jeremiah 7:20 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Jeremiah 7:23 Lit the word
- Jeremiah 7:23 Lit in all the way
- Jeremiah 7:24 Lit were
- Jeremiah 7:28 Or faithfulness
- Jeremiah 7:29 Lit your crown
- Jeremiah 7:31 Lit heart
- Jeremiah 7:32 Or until there is no place left
- Jeremiah 8:2 Lit host
- Jeremiah 8:4 Lit turn back
- Jeremiah 8:7 Lit coming
- Jeremiah 8:18 As in LXX and ancient versions
- Jeremiah 8:19 Lit futilities
- Jeremiah 8:22 Or healing
- Jeremiah 8:22 Lit gone up
Jeremiah 6-8
New International Version
Jeremiah 6-8
New International Version
Jerusalem Under Siege
6 “Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Flee from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet(A) in Tekoa!(B)
Raise the signal over Beth Hakkerem!(C)
For disaster looms out of the north,(D)
even terrible destruction.
2 I will destroy Daughter Zion,(E)
so beautiful and delicate.(F)
3 Shepherds(G) with their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents around(H) her,
each tending his own portion.”
4 “Prepare for battle against her!
Arise, let us attack at noon!(I)
But, alas, the daylight is fading,
and the shadows of evening grow long.
5 So arise, let us attack at night
and destroy her fortresses!”
6 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Cut down the trees(J)
and build siege ramps(K) against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished;
it is filled with oppression.(L)
7 As a well pours out its water,
so she pours out her wickedness.
Violence(M) and destruction(N) resound in her;
her sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8 Take warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away(O) from you
and make your land desolate
so no one can live in it.”
9 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Let them glean the remnant(P) of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine;
pass your hand over the branches again,
like one gathering grapes.”
10 To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen(Q) to me?
Their ears are closed[a](R)
so they cannot hear.(S)
The word(T) of the Lord is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.
11 But I am full of the wrath(U) of the Lord,
and I cannot hold it in.(V)
“Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men(W) gathered together;
both husband and wife will be caught in it,
and the old, those weighed down with years.(X)
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,(Y)
together with their fields and their wives,(Z)
when I stretch out my hand(AA)
against those who live in the land,”
declares the Lord.
13 “From the least to the greatest,
all(AB) are greedy for gain;(AC)
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.(AD)
14 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.(AE)
15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.(AF)
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish(AG) them,”
says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,(AH)
ask where the good way(AI) is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest(AJ) for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen(AK) over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’(AL)
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’(AM)
18 Therefore hear, you nations;
you who are witnesses,
observe what will happen to them.
19 Hear, you earth:(AN)
I am bringing disaster(AO) on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,(AP)
because they have not listened to my words(AQ)
and have rejected my law.(AR)
20 What do I care about incense from Sheba(AS)
or sweet calamus(AT) from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;(AU)
your sacrifices(AV) do not please me.”(AW)
21 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“I will put obstacles before this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble(AX) over them;
neighbors and friends will perish.”
22 This is what the Lord says:
“Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north;(AY)
a great nation is being stirred up
from the ends of the earth.(AZ)
23 They are armed with bow and spear;
they are cruel and show no mercy.(BA)
They sound like the roaring sea(BB)
as they ride on their horses;(BC)
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, Daughter Zion.(BD)”
24 We have heard reports about them,
and our hands hang limp.(BE)
Anguish(BF) has gripped us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.(BG)
25 Do not go out to the fields
or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword,
and there is terror on every side.(BH)
26 Put on sackcloth,(BI) my people,
and roll in ashes;(BJ)
mourn with bitter wailing(BK)
as for an only son,(BL)
for suddenly the destroyer(BM)
will come upon us.
27 “I have made you a tester(BN) of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.
28 They are all hardened rebels,(BO)
going about to slander.(BP)
They are bronze and iron;(BQ)
they all act corruptly.
29 The bellows blow fiercely
to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining(BR) goes on in vain;
the wicked are not purged out.
30 They are called rejected silver,(BS)
because the Lord has rejected them.”(BT)
False Religion Worthless
7 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand(BU) at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:
“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways(BV) and your actions, and I will let you live(BW) in this place. 4 Do not trust(BX) in deceptive(BY) words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change(BZ) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,(CA) 6 if you do not oppress(CB) the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood(CC) in this place, and if you do not follow other gods(CD) to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land(CE) I gave your ancestors(CF) for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting(CG) in deceptive(CH) words that are worthless.
9 “‘Will you steal(CI) and murder,(CJ) commit adultery(CK) and perjury,[b](CL) burn incense to Baal(CM) and follow other gods(CN) you have not known, 10 and then come and stand(CO) before me in this house,(CP) which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?(CQ) 11 Has this house,(CR) which bears my Name, become a den of robbers(CS) to you? But I have been watching!(CT) declares the Lord.
12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh(CU) where I first made a dwelling(CV) for my Name,(CW) and see what I did(CX) to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke(CY) to you again and again,(CZ) but you did not listen;(DA) I called(DB) you, but you did not answer.(DC) 14 Therefore, what I did to Shiloh(DD) I will now do to the house that bears my Name,(DE) the temple(DF) you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 I will thrust you from my presence,(DG) just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’(DH)
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea(DI) or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen(DJ) to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven.(DK) They pour out drink offerings(DL) to other gods to arouse(DM) my anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking?(DN) declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?(DO)
20 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign(DP) Lord says: My anger(DQ) and my wrath will be poured(DR) out on this place—on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the crops of your land—and it will burn and not be quenched.(DS)
21 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices(DT) and eat(DU) the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands(DV) about burnt offerings and sacrifices,(DW) 23 but I gave them this command:(DX) Obey(DY) me, and I will be your God and you will be my people.(DZ) Walk in obedience to all(EA) I command you, that it may go well(EB) with you. 24 But they did not listen(EC) or pay attention;(ED) instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.(EE) They went backward(EF) and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again(EG) I sent you my servants(EH) the prophets.(EI) 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention.(EJ) They were stiff-necked(EK) and did more evil than their ancestors.’(EL)
27 “When you tell(EM) them all this, they will not listen(EN) to you; when you call to them, they will not answer.(EO) 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction.(EP) Truth(EQ) has perished; it has vanished from their lips.
29 “‘Cut off(ER) your hair and throw it away; take up a lament(ES) on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and abandoned(ET) this generation that is under his wrath.
The Valley of Slaughter
30 “‘The people of Judah have done evil(EU) in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols(EV) in the house that bears my Name and have defiled(EW) it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth(EX) in the Valley of Ben Hinnom(EY) to burn their sons and daughters(EZ) in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.(FA) 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter,(FB) for they will bury(FC) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. 33 Then the carcasses(FD) of this people will become food(FE) for the birds and the wild animals, and there will be no one to frighten them away.(FF) 34 I will bring an end to the sounds(FG) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom(FH) in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem,(FI) for the land will become desolate.(FJ)
8 “‘At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones(FK) of the people of Jerusalem will be removed(FL) from their graves. 2 They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served(FM) and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped.(FN) They will not be gathered up or buried,(FO) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(FP) 3 Wherever I banish them,(FQ) all the survivors of this evil nation will prefer death to life,(FR) declares the Lord Almighty.’
Sin and Punishment
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘When people fall down, do they not get up?(FS)
When someone turns away,(FT) do they not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away?
Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;(FU)
they refuse to return.(FV)
6 I have listened(FW) attentively,
but they do not say what is right.
None of them repent(FX) of their wickedness,
saying, “What have I done?”
Each pursues their own course(FY)
like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky
knows her appointed seasons,
and the dove, the swift and the thrush
observe the time of their migration.
But my people do not know(FZ)
the requirements of the Lord.
8 “‘How can you say, “We are wise,
for we have the law(GA) of the Lord,”
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
has handled it falsely?
9 The wise(GB) will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed(GC) and trapped.(GD)
Since they have rejected the word(GE) of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom(GF) do they have?
10 Therefore I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners.(GG)
From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;(GH)
prophets(GI) and priests alike,
all practice deceit.(GJ)
11 They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.(GK)
12 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame(GL) at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when they are punished,(GM)
says the Lord.(GN)
13 “‘I will take away their harvest,
declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.(GO)
There will be no figs(GP) on the tree,
and their leaves will wither.(GQ)
What I have given them
will be taken(GR) from them.[c]’”
14 Why are we sitting here?
Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities(GS)
and perish there!
For the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
and given us poisoned water(GT) to drink,
because we have sinned(GU) against him.
15 We hoped for peace(GV)
but no good has come,
for a time of healing
but there is only terror.(GW)
16 The snorting of the enemy’s horses(GX)
is heard from Dan;(GY)
at the neighing of their stallions
the whole land trembles.(GZ)
They have come to devour(HA)
the land and everything in it,
the city and all who live there.
17 “See, I will send venomous snakes(HB) among you,
vipers that cannot be charmed,(HC)
and they will bite you,”
declares the Lord.
18 You who are my Comforter[d] in sorrow,
my heart is faint(HD) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:(HE)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King(HF) no longer there?”
20 “The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 6:10 Hebrew uncircumcised
- Jeremiah 7:9 Or and swear by false gods
- Jeremiah 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
- Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Jeremiah 6-8
King James Version
Jeremiah 6-8
King James Version
6 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.
3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.
4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.
7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
20 To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.
23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2 Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.
3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.
5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord.
12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the Lord: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
26 Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
27 Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
28 But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
30 For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the Lord: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
32 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
33 And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
8 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
13 I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.
14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
15 We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!
16 The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
17 For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the Lord.
18 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities?
20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
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