Jeremiah 6

¹ "Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Flee from Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
Raise the signal over Beth-hakkerem!
For disaster looms from the north,
even great destruction.

² The beautiful and delicate one—
I will destroy Daughter Zion.

³ Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents around her,
each grazing his own section."

⁴ "Prepare for battle against her!
Arise, let us attack at noon!"
"Woe to us, for the day is fading,
for the evening shadows are lengthening."

⁵ "Arise, let us attack by night
and destroy her fortresses!"

⁶ For this is what the LORD of Hosts says:
"Cut down her trees
and build siege ramps against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.

⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil.
Violence and destruction resound in her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.

⁸ Take warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn from you in disgust
and make you desolate,
a land without inhabitant."

⁹ This is what the LORD of Hosts says:
"They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel
as a vine.
Pass your hand over the branches again,
like a grape gatherer."

¹⁰ To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it.

¹¹ But I am full of the wrath of the LORD,
and I am weary of holding it in.
"Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together.
Both husband and wife will be caught in it,
the old and those weighed down with years.

¹² Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
when I stretch out my hand
against those who live in the land,"
declares the LORD.

¹³ "From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike—
all practice deceit.

¹⁴ They dress the wound of my people
as though it were nothing.
'Peace, peace,' they say,
when there is no peace.

¹⁵ Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,"
says the LORD.

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:
"Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'

¹⁷ I appointed watchmen over you and said,
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
But you said, 'We will not listen.'

¹⁸ Therefore hear, you nations;
take note, you witnesses,
what will happen to them.

¹⁹ Hear, O earth!
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my instruction."

²⁰ What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me."

²¹ Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"I will put stumbling blocks before this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble over them;
neighbors and friends will perish."

²² This is what the LORD says:
"Look, an army is coming
from the land of the north;
a great nation is being stirred up
from the ends of the earth.

²³ They are armed with bow and spear;
they are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses,
drawn up in battle formation
against you, Daughter Zion."

²⁴ We have heard reports about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.

²⁵ Do not go out to the fields
or walk on the roads,
for the enemy has a sword;
there is terror on every side.

²⁶ Daughter of my people,
put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes;
mourn as for an only son
with bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.

²⁷ "I have made you a tester of metals
and my people the ore,
that you may observe
and test their ways.

²⁸ They are all hardened rebels,
going about to slander.
They are bronze and iron;
they all act corruptly.

²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire.
The refining goes on in vain,
for the wicked are not purged out.

³⁰ They are called rejected silver,
because the LORD has rejected them."