Jeremiah 6
1 Flee for shelter, people of Benjamin, from the middle of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster appears from the north, and great destruction.
2 The beautiful and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I am destroying.
3 Shepherds will come to her with their flocks. They will pitch their tents around her, each grazing his own portion.
4 Prepare for war against her! Get up, and let us attack at noon! Woe to us, for the day is already fading and the evening shadows are growing long!
5 Get up, and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!
6 For this is what the LORD of Armies says: “Cut down trees and build a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; nothing but oppression is found within it.
7 As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps her wickedness fresh. Violence and destruction are heard in her; sickness and wounds are always before me.
8 Accept correction, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land where no one lives.”
9 This is what the LORD of Armies says: “They will glean the remnant of Israel thoroughly, as one gleans a vine. Pass your hand over the branches again, as a grape gatherer does.”
10 To whom can I speak and give warning, so they will listen? Their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot pay attention. The word of the LORD has become an object of scorn to them; they take no pleasure in it.
11 I am filled with the fury of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out on the child in the street and on the gathering of young men alike, for man and woman will be taken captive, the old along with those full of days.
12 Their houses will pass to others, along with their fields and wives, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD.
13 For everyone, from the least to the greatest, is greedy for dishonest gain; and everyone, from prophet to priest, practices deceit.
14 They treat the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.
15 They should be ashamed of the abomination they have committed, but they feel no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among those who fall; when I punish them, they will stumble, says the LORD.
16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the good way? Walk in it, and you will find rest for yourselves.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
17 I appointed watchmen over you: “Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet.” But they said, “We will not pay attention.”
18 Therefore, hear, nations, and know, community, what is among them.
19 Hear, earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own plans, because they did not pay attention to my words and rejected my law.
20 What use is incense to me, brought from Sheba, or fragrant cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please me.
21 Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I am putting stumbling blocks before this people, and fathers and sons alike will stumble over them; neighbor and friend will perish.”
22 This is what the LORD says: “Look, a people is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is rousing itself from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 They wield bow and spear; they are cruel and show no mercy. Their roar is like the sea, and they ride horses, arrayed for battle like one man, against you, daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the news of them, and our hands have grown weak. Anguish has seized us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out into the field or walk along the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is all around.
26 Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn as for an only child, with bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
27 I have made you a tester among my people, a fortress, so that you may know and examine their ways.
28 They are all stubborn rebels, spreading slander as they go; they are bronze and iron, all of them destroyers.
29 The bellows blow fiercely, and the lead is consumed by the fire. The refiner works in vain, for the wicked are not separated out.
30 They are called rejected silver, for the LORD has rejected them.
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