Jeremiah 6

6:1 “Run for safety, people of Benjamin!

Get out of Jerusalem!1

Sound the trumpet2 in Tekoa!

Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!

For disaster lurks out of the north;

it will bring great destruction.3

6:2 I will destroy4 fair Zion,5

which is as beautiful and delicate as a young woman.6

6:3 Kings will come against it with their armies.

They will pitch their tents all around it.

Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.7

6:4 They will say,8 ‘Prepare to do battle9 against it!

Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’

But then they will say,10 ‘Oh, oh! Too bad!11 The day is almost over

and the shadows of evening are getting long.

6:5 So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night

and destroy all its fortified buildings.’

6:6 All of this is because12 the Lord who rules over all13 has said:

‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem

and build up a siege ramp against its walls.14

This is the city which is to be punished.15

Nothing but oppression goes on in it.16

6:7 As a well produces fresh water

so it is ever doing wicked deeds.17

Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it.18

All I see are sick and wounded people.’19

6:8 So20 take warning, Jerusalem,

or I will turn away from you21

and make you desolate,

a place where no one can live.”

6:9 This is what the Lord who rules over all22 said to me:23

“Those who are left in Israel will be

like the grapes thoroughly gleaned24 from a vine.

So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester

passing your hand over the branches one last time.”25

6:10 I answered,26

“Who would listen

if I spoke to them and warned them?27

Their ears are so closed28

that they cannot hear!

Indeed,29 what the Lord says is offensive to them.

They do not like it at all.30

6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord,31

I am tired of trying to hold it in.”

The Lord answered,32

“Vent it, then,33 on the children who play in the street

and on the young men who are gathered together.

Husbands and wives are to be included,34

as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.

6:12 Their houses will be given to others

as will their fields and their wives.

For I will unleash my power35

against those who live in this land,”

says the Lord.

6:13 “That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,

all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.

Prophets and priests alike,

all of them practice deceit.

6:14 They offer only superficial help

for the hurt my people have suffered.36

They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’

But everything is not all right!37

6:15 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things?

No, they are not at all ashamed.

They do not even know how to blush!

So they will die, just like others have died.38

They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”

says the Lord.

6:16 The Lord said to his people:39

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.40

Ask where the old, reliable paths41 are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing42 and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it.”

6:17 The Lord said,43

“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you,44 saying:

‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’”45

But they said, “We will not pay attention.”

6:18 So the Lord said,46

“Hear, you nations!

Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.47

6:19 Hear this, you peoples of the earth:48

‘Take note!49 I am about to bring disaster on these people.

It will come as a payment for their scheming.50

For they have not paid any heed to what I have said51

and have rejected my law.

6:20 It does me no good52 for them to bring me53 the frankincense that comes from Sheba

or the sweet-smelling cane that comes from a faraway land.

I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.

I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’54

6:21 So, this is what the Lord says:

‘I will assuredly55 bring an army against56 these people.

Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction.57

Friends and neighbors will die.’

6:22 “This is what the Lord says:

‘Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north.

A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.

6:23 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.

They are cruel and show no mercy.

They sound like the roaring sea

as they ride forth on their horses.

Lined up in formation like men going into battle,

they are coming against you, fair Zion.’”58

6:24 And I cry out,59 “We have heard reports about them.

We have become helpless with fear.60

Anguish grips us,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

6:25 Oh, my people,61 do not go out into the countryside.

Do not travel on the roads.

For the enemy is there with sword in hand.62

They are spreading terror everywhere.63

6:26 Oh, my dear people,64 put on sackcloth

and roll in ashes.

Mourn with painful sobs

as though you had lost your only child.

For any moment now65 that destructive army66

will come against us.”

6:27 The Lord said to me,67

“I appoint you to be like a tester of metal.

And my people are like the ore to be tested.68

You are to observe them

and evaluate how they behave.”69

6:28 And I reported,70

“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels.71

They are as hard as bronze or iron.

They go about telling lies.

They all deal corruptly.

6:29 The fires of judgment have burned fiercely.

But there is too much dross to be removed.72

The process of refining them has proved useless.73

The wicked have not been removed.

6:30 They are to be evaluated like ‘reject silver.’74

That is because the Lord rejects them.”

Faulty Religion and Unethical Behavior Will Lead to Judgment

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