Jeremiah Chapter 6
Jerusalem Under Siege
1 “People of Benjamin, get out of Jerusalem!
Blow a bugle in Tekoa,
sound the ram’s horn over Beth-haccerem,
because great destruction
looms down from the north.
2 I’ll destroy attractive, delicate Zion.
3 ‘Shepherds’ [commanders] will lead their companies there
and pitch camps around it,
each with his own area to subdue.
4 Get ready for war with it;
get up! attack at noon!
But misfortune would await us; it’s getting late;
shadows are getting longer.
5 So get up! Let’s attack at night
and destroy its fortified towers.”
Jer 6:1-5
6 The LORD of Hosts says,
“Cut down its trees;
build a siege wall against it.
Punish Jerusalem;
there’s nothing in it but oppression.
7 As a well keeps its water fresh,
this city keeps its sinfulness fresh.
I hear violence and destruction in it;
its sickness and wounds are constantly evident to me.
8 Jerusalem, pay attention to the warning,
or I’ll separate you from me
and make you desolate and unoccupied.”
Jer 6:6-8
9 The LORD of Hosts says,
“They’ll thoroughly glean you like a remnant in Israel;
they’ll pass over you again
like someone that gathers grapes
picks over the branches one more time.”
10 How should I warn them?
They’ve covered their ears and can’t listen;
any message from the LORD offends them.
Jer 6:9-10
11 But I’m full of the LORD’s anger;
I’m tired of holding it in!
“I’ll pour it out on children in the streets,
on groups of young men;
husbands and wives will both be taken,
the old and gray as well.
12Their houses will pass on to other people,
their fields and wives too,
because I’ll reach out against the people in the land.
13That’s because every one’s greedy from least to greatest;
every one cheats from prophet to priest.
14They try to bandage over my people’s wounds
by saying, ‘Everything’s all right,’ when it’s not.
15Are they ashamed of their disgusting acts?
Not at all. They can’t even blush;
so they’ll fall with the falling.
When I punish them,
I’ll cast them down,” the LORD says.
Jer 6:11-15
16 The LORD said,
“Stand beside the road and ask where the ancient paths are;
ask where the good road is and walk on it;
you’ll find some rest.
But they say, ‘We’re not going to walk there.’
17 I posted a watchman over you and said,
‘Listen to the bugle!’
But they said, ‘We don’t have to listen to it.’
Jer 6:16-17
18 “So listen, nations;
know, community, what’s among them.
19 Listen, earth; I’m going to bring disaster on them, a disaster that results from their intentions, because they ignored me and wouldn’t accept my Law.
20 Why offer me frankincense from Sheba
and calamus from some distant land?
Your burnt offerings aren’t acceptable;
your sacrifices don’t please me.”
Jer 6:18-20
21 The LORD says,
“I’ll lay obstacles in front of my people
so they’ll trip over them;
Fathers and sons together,
neighbors and friends will perish.”
Jer 6:21
22 The LORD says,
“A big army will rise up
from the remote parts of the world;
a nation will come from a land up north.
23 They take up bow and spear;
they’re cruel with no mercy.
They roar like the ocean and ride on horses,
arrayed for battle against you, Zion."
24 We’ve heard the report about them; our hands hang limp;
birth pangs have seized us like a woman in labor.
25 Don’t go out in the field or walk on the road,
because the enemy has a sword;
they terrorize everywhere.
26 Put on burlap, my people, and roll in ashes;
mourn like you would for an only son—
a bitter lamentation,
because the destroyer will come at you suddenly.
Jer 6:22-26
27 “Jeremiah, I’ve made you an assayer among my people
so you can test them and know how they live.
28 They’re stubborn and rebellious,
and go around slandering.
They’re as hardened as bronze and iron—
corrupt, every one.
29 The bellows blow fiercely,
but the refining doesn’t purify;
the sinfulness does not burn off.
30 Assay them as ‘rejected silver’
because the LORD has rejected them.”
Jer 6:27-30