Jeremiah 6
1 Put yourselves under covert, ye children of Benjamin, away from the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the horn in Tekoa, and set up a signal on Beth-cherem; for evil looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction.
“You people in Jerusalem who are from [the tribe of] Benjamin, flee from this city! Blow the trumpets in Tekoa [city south of Jerusalem]! Send up a [smoke] signal in Beth-Haccherem [town] [to warn the people of the coming danger]! A powerful [army] will come from the north, and they will cause great destruction.
2 The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off.
Jerusalem is [like] a beautiful pasture [full of sheep], but it will soon be destroyed.
3 Shepherds with their flocks come unto her; they pitch their tents against her round about; they feed bare every one what is nigh at hand.
[Enemy kings, not] shepherds [MET], will come [with their armies] and set up their tents around the city, and each [king will choose a part of the city for his soldiers to destroy like] [MET] shepherds divide their pastures for their flocks of sheep.
4 'Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon!' 'Woe unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out!'
[The kings will tell their troops], “Get ready for the battle. We should attack them before noontime. But [if we arrive there late in the afternoon] when the shadows are becoming long,
5 'Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.'
we will attack them at night and tear down their fortresses.”
6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said: hew ye down her trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; everywhere there is oppression in the midst of her.
Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, says this: “[I will command those soldiers to] cut down the trees [outside Jerusalem] and to build dirt ramps up to the top of the city walls [in order that they can enter the city]. This city must be punished because everyone there continually oppresses others.
7 As a cistern welleth with her waters, so she welleth with her wickedness; violence and spoil is heard in her; before Me continually is sickness and wounds.
[It is as though] the wicked things that the people do pour out of the city like [SIM] water flows out of a spring. [The noise from people doing] violent and destructive actions is heard everywhere. I continually see [people who are] suffering and wounded.
8 Be thou corrected, O Jerusalem, lest My soul be alienated from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
Listen to what I am warning you, [you people of] [APO] Jerusalem, because if you do not listen, I will reject you and cause your land to become desolate, a land where no one lives.”
9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer upon the shoots.
Yahweh, the Commander of the armies of angels in heaven, also says this: “[I will tell your enemies] to cause your country to become as desolate [SIM] as a vineyard from which all the grapes have been completely stripped from the vines. [Their soldiers will seize the possessions of] those who remain in Israel [after the others have been exiled] like [SIM] farmers go to the vines again to pick any grapes [that were (left/not picked)].”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is dull, and they cannot attend; behold, the word of the LORD is become unto them a reproach, they have no delight in it.
[Then I said, “If I speak to the Israeli people] to warn them, (who will listen to me?/No one will listen to me.) [RHQ] [It is as though] their ears are closed, [and as a result] they cannot hear [what I say]. They scorn Yahweh’s messages; they do not want to listen to them at all.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the babes 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 that is full of days.
So [now] I am extremely angry, like Yahweh is angry, and I cannot restrain it any longer.” [So] Yahweh said [to me], “Tell everyone that you are very angry with them. Tell the children in the streets and the young men who gather together. Tell the men and their wives; tell the very old people [DOU], also.
12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
[Tell the men that] I will give their houses to [their enemies], and I will give their property/fields and their wives to them, also, when I punish [IDM] the people who live in this land.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is greedy for gain; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
Everyone is trying to get money by tricking others, from the most [important people] to the least [important people]; even the prophets and the priests are trying to deceive [people to get money].
14 They have healed also the hurt of My people lightly, saying: 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace.
[They act as though the sins of my people are like] [MET] small wounds that they do not need to put bandages on. They continually [greet people by] saying ‘I hope things are going well with you,’ when things are not going well.
15 They shall be put to shame because they have committed abomination; yea, they are not at all ashamed, neither know they how to blush; therefore they shall fall among them that fall, at the time that I punish them they shall stumble, saith the LORD.
They should be [RHQ] ashamed about the disgusting things that they do, but they are not ashamed at all. They do not [even] know how to (blush/show on their faces that they are ashamed). So, they also will be among those who will be killed. They will be destroyed when I punish them.”
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.'
This is [also] what Yahweh said [to the Israeli people]: “Stand at the crossroads and look [at the people who pass by]. Ask them what was the good behavior [that their ancestors had] long ago. [And when they tell you], behave that way. If you do that, you will find rest for your souls.” But you replied, ‘We do not want to do that!’
17 And I set watchmen over you: 'Attend to the sound of the horn', but they said: 'We will not attend.'
I sent [my prophets who were like] [MET] watchmen. They said, ‘Listen carefully when we blow the trumpets [to warn you that your enemies are approaching],’ but you said, ‘[No], we do not want to listen.’
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is against them.
Therefore, you people in the other nations, listen to this: Pay attention to what is going to happen to the [Israeli people].
19 Hear, O earth: Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not attended unto My words, and as for My teaching, they have rejected it.
Listen, all of you! I am going to cause the [Israeli] people to experience disasters. That is what will happen to them because they have refused to listen to what I told them. They have refused to obey my laws.
20 To what purpose is to Me the frankincense that cometh from Sheba, and the sweet cane, from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto Me.
[You Israeli people], when you burn frankincense that came from [far away in] Sheba, and [when you offer to me] sweet-smelling anointing oil that came from far away, I will not [RHQ] be pleased with your sacrifices. I will not accept the sacrifices that are completely burned on the altar; I am not pleased with [any of] your sacrifices.
21 Therefore thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them, the neighbour and his friend, and they shall perish.
Therefore, I will put obstacles on the roads on which my people will travel. Men and their sons and people’s neighbors and friends will stumble over those obstacles and fall down; everyone will die.”
22 Thus saith the LORD: Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be roused from the uttermost parts of the earth.
Yahweh [also] says this: “You will see a [huge] army marching [towards you] from the north. [An army of] a great nation very far away is preparing [to attack you].
23 They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no compassion; their voice is like the roaring sea, and they ride upon horses; set in array, as a man for war, against thee, O daughter of Zion.
They have bows [and arrows] and spears; they are [very] cruel, and do not act mercifully [to anyone]. As they ride along on their horses, the horses’ feet sound like the roaring of the ocean [waves]; they are riding in battle formation to attack you people of Jerusalem.”
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.'
[The people of Jerusalem say], “We have heard reports about the enemy; [so] we are very frightened, with the result that we feel weak. We are very afraid, and worried, like [SIM] women who are about to give birth to babies.
25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for there is the sword of the enemy, and terror on every side.
[So one person says to another], ‘Do not go out into the fields! Do not go on the roads, because the enemy [soldiers] have swords [and they are everywhere]; they are coming from all directions, and we are extremely afraid.’”
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.
[So I say], “My dear people, put on (sackcloth/rough clothes) and sit in ashes [to show that you are sorry for your sins]. Mourn and cry very much, like [SIM] [a woman would cry] if her only son had died, because your enemies are very near, and they are going to destroy [everything].”
27 I have made thee a tower and a fortress among My people; that thou mayest know and try their way.
[Then Yahweh said to me], “[Jeremiah], I have caused you to become [like] [MET] someone who heats metal very hot [to completely burn the impurities]. You will examine my people’s behavior.
28 They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron; they all of them deal corruptly.
You will find out that they are very stubborn rebels, they are always slandering others. [Their inner beings] are as hard as bronze or iron; they all [continually] deceive others.
29 The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire; in vain doth the founder refine, for the wicked are not separated.
[A metalworker causes] the bellows to blow very hard to [make the fire very hot to] completely burn up the impurities [MET]. [But just as] a fire does not cause all the waste material to run off, it is impossible to separate [the righteous people from the wicked people, and punish only] the wicked people.
30 Refuse silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.
[I], Yahweh, have rejected them; I say that they are [like] [MET] worthless silver.”
