Jeremiah 6
1 Flee, O ye sons of Benjamin, from Jerusalem, And blow ye the trumpet in Tekoa, And lift up the banner in Beth-haccerem! For evil threateneth from the North; Yea, great destruction.
Go in flight out of Jerusalem, so that you may be safe, you children of Benjamin, and let the horn be sounded in Tekoa, and the flag be lifted up on Beth-haccherem: for evil is looking out from the north, and a great destruction.
2 O daughter of Zion, the comely and delicate, Thee have I doomed to destruction!
The fair and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will be cut off by my hand.
3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; They shall pitch their tents against her round about; They shall feed each one in his place.
Keepers of sheep with their flocks will come to her; they will put up their tents round her; everyone will get food in his place.
4 “Prepare ye war against her, [[shall they say; ]] Arise, and let us go up at noonday; Alas for us! for the day goeth away, For the shadows of evening are lengthened.
Make war ready against her; up! let us go up when the sun is high. Sorrow is ours! for the day is turned and the shades of evening are stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go up by night, And let us destroy her palaces!”
Up! let us go up by night, and send destruction on her great houses.
6 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Hew ye down trees, And raise a mound against Jerusalem! She is a city to be punished; She is full of oppression.
For this is what the Lord of armies has said: Let trees be cut down and an earthwork be placed against Jerusalem: sorrow on the false town! inside her there is nothing but cruel ways.
7 As a fountain sendeth forth its waters, So she sendeth forth her wickedness. Violence and rapine are heard within her; Before me continually are bruises and wounds.
As the spring keeps its waters cold, so she keeps her evil in her: the sound of cruel and violent behaviour is in her; before me at all times are disease and wounds.
8 Receive correction, O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be alienated from thee, Lest I make thee a desolation, A land not inhabited!
Undergo teaching, O Jerusalem, or my soul will be turned away from you, and I will make you a waste, an unpeopled land.
9 Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; Turn thy hand like a grape-gatherer again to the baskets!
This is what the Lord of armies has said: Everything will be taken from the rest of Israel as the last grapes are taken from the vine; let your hand be turned to the small branches, like one pulling off grapes.
10 To whom shall I speak? To whom give warning, so that they shall hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, so that they cannot hearken; Behold, the word of Jehovah is to them a derision; They have no delight in it.
To whom am I to give word, witnessing so that they may take note? see, their ears are stopped, and they are not able to give attention: see, the word of the Lord has been a cause of shame to them, they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah; I am weary of holding it; I will pour it out alike upon the children in the street, And upon the assembly of the young men. Yea, also the husband with the wife shall be taken, The old man, and he that is full of days.
For this reason I am full of the wrath of the Lord, I am tired of keeping it in: may it be let loose on the children in the street, and on the band of the young men together: for even the husband with his wife will be taken, the old man with him who is full of days.
12 Their houses also shall be transferred to others, Their fields and their wives together, For I will stretch out my hand over the inhabitants of the land, saith Jehovah.
And their houses will be handed over to others, their fields and their wives together: for my hand will be stretched out against the people of the land, says the Lord.
13 For from the least of them even to the greatest, Every one is greedy of gain; Prophet and priest alike, Every one of them practiseth deceit.
For from the least of them even to the greatest, everyone is given up to getting money; from the prophet even to the priest, everyone is working deceit.
14 They heal the wound of my people slightly, Saying, Peace! peace! when there is no peace.
And they have made little of the wounds of my people, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed that they have done abominable things? Nay, they are not at all ashamed; They know not how to blush; Therefore shall they fall with them that fall; At the time when I punish them, They shall be cast down, saith Jehovah.
Let them be put to shame because they have done disgusting things. They had no shame, they were not able to become red with shame: so they will come down with those who are falling: when my punishment comes on them, they will be made low, says the Lord.
16 Thus saith Jehovah: Stand ye upon the ways and look; And ask for the old paths, “Where is the good way?” Walk ye in it, and ye shall find for yourselves rest. But they say, We will not walk in it.
This is what the Lord has said: Take your place looking out on the ways; make search for the old roads, saying, Where is the good way? and go in it that you may have rest for your souls. But they said, We will not go in it.
17 I have also set watchmen over you, [[saying, ]] Hearken to the sound of the trumpet! But they say, We will not hearken.
And I put watchmen over you, saying, Give attention to the sound of the horn; but they said, We will not give attention.
18 Therefore hear, O ye nations, And know, ye assembled multitude, What shall come upon them!
So then, give ear, you nations, and ...
19 Hear thou, O earth! Behold, I bring evil upon this people, The fruit of their devices; Because they have not hearkened to my words, And have even rejected my law.
Give ear, O earth: see, I will make evil come on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not given attention to my words, and they would have nothing to do with my law.
20 To what purpose is incense brought to me from Sheba, And the sweet-smelling reed from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, Nor are your sacrifices sweet to me.
To what purpose does sweet perfume come to me from Sheba, and spices from a far country? your burned offerings give me no pleasure, your offerings of beasts are not pleasing to me.
21 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I lay stumbling-blocks before this people, Upon which fathers and sons shall stumble together, The neighbor and his friend, and shall perish.
For this reason the Lord has said, See, I will put stones in the way of this people: and the fathers and the sons together will go falling over them; the neighbour and his friend will come to destruction.
22 Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, a people cometh from the land of the North; A great nation riseth up from the extremities of the earth.
The Lord has said, See, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation will be put in motion from the inmost parts of the earth.
23 They bear the bow and the spear; They are cruel and show no mercy; Their voice roareth like the sea; And upon horses do they ride, Arrayed as a warrior against thee, O daughter of Zion.
Bows and spears are in their hands; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice is like the thunder of the sea, and they go on horses; everyone in his place like men going to the fight, against you, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the report thereof; Our hands lose their strength; Anguish hath taken hold of us, Pain, as of a woman in travail.
The news of it has come to our ears; our hands have become feeble: trouble has come on us and pain, like the pain of a woman in childbirth.
25 Go not forth into the field, Nor walk ye in the highway! For the sword of the enemy And terror are on every side.
Go not out into the field or by the way; for there is the sword of the attacker, and fear on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, And roll thyself in ashes! Make thee mourning as for an only son, Most bitter lamentation! For suddenly shall the spoiler come upon us.
O daughter of my people, put on haircloth, rolling yourself in the dust: give yourself to sorrow, as for an only son, with most bitter cries of grief; for he who makes waste will come on us suddenly.
27 I have set thee, like a tower, for an assayer among my people, That thou mayst know and try their way.
I have made you a tester among my people, so that you may have knowledge of their way and put it to the test.
28 They are all stubborn revolters, Slanderers are they, brass and iron; They are all corrupt.
All of them are turned away, going about with false stories; they are brass and iron: they are all workers of deceit.
29 The bellows burn; The lead is consumed by the fire; The refiner hath melted in vain, For the bad are not separated.
The blower is blowing strongly, the lead is burned away in the fire: they go on heating the metal to no purpose, for the evil-doers are not taken away.
30 Rejected silver shall men call them, Because Jehovah hath rejected them.
They will be named waste silver, because the Lord has given them up.
