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.
²I will destroy Daughter Zion,^(E)
    so beautiful and delicate.^(F)
³Shepherds^(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.
⁵So arise, let us attack at night
    and destroy her fortresses!”

⁶This 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)
⁷As 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.
⁸Take warning, Jerusalem,
    or I will turn away^(O) from you
and make your land desolate
    so no one can live in it.”

⁹This 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.”

¹⁰To 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.
¹¹But 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)
¹²Their 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)
¹⁴They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
    when there is no peace.^(AE)
¹⁵Are 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.

¹⁶This 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.’
¹⁷I appointed watchmen^(AK) over you and said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’^(AL)
    But you said, ‘We will not listen.’^(AM)
¹⁸Therefore hear, you nations;
    you who are witnesses,
    observe what will happen to them.
¹⁹Hear, 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)
²⁰What 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)

²¹Therefore 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.”

²²This 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)
²³They 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)”

²⁴We 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)
²⁵Do 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)
²⁶Put 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.
²⁸They are all hardened rebels,^(BO)
    going about to slander.^(BP)
They are bronze and iron;^(BQ)
    they all act corruptly.
²⁹The bellows blow fiercely
    to burn away the lead with fire,
but the refining^(BR) goes on in vain;
    the wicked are not purged out.
³⁰They 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. ³This 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. ⁴Do 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!” ⁵If you really change^(BZ) your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,^(CA) ⁶if 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, ⁷then I will let you live in this place, in the land^(CE) I gave your ancestors^(CF) for ever and ever. ⁸But 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, ¹⁰and 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) ¹¹Has 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. ¹³While 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) ¹⁴Therefore, 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. ¹⁵I 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. ¹⁷Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸The 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. ¹⁹But 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! ²²For 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) ²³but 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. ²⁴But 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. ²⁵From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again^(EG) I sent you my servants^(EH) the prophets.^(EI) ²⁶But 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) ²⁸Therefore 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. ³¹They 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) ³²So 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. ³³Then 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) ³⁴I 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. ²They 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) ³Wherever 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?
⁵Why then have these people turned away?
    Why does Jerusalem always turn away?
They cling to deceit;^(FU)
    they refuse to return.^(FV)
⁶I 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.
⁷Even 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?
⁹The 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?
¹⁰Therefore 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)
¹¹They dress the wound of my people
    as though it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
    when there is no peace.^(GK)
¹²Are 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]’”

¹⁴Why 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.
¹⁵We hoped for peace^(GV)
    but no good has come,
for a time of healing
    but there is only terror.^(GW)
¹⁶The 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.

¹⁸You who are my Comforter^[d] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint^(HD) within me.
¹⁹Listen 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?”

“Why have they aroused^(HG) my anger with their images,
with their worthless^(HH) foreign idols?”^(HI)

²⁰“The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved.”

²¹Since my people are crushed,^(HJ) I am crushed;
    I mourn,^(HK) and horror grips me.
²²Is there no balm in Gilead?^(HL)
    Is there no physician^(HM) there?
Why then is there no healing^(HN)
    for the wound of my people?