Shared Word Translation
Jeremiah 6
Flee for safety, people of Benjamin, from within Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa;
raise a signal over Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looks out from the north—
a great destruction.
The lovely and delicate one—
Daughter Zion—I will destroy.
Shepherds will come against her with their flocks;
they will pitch their tents around her.
Each will pasture his own portion.
“Prepare war against her!
Rise up, and let us attack at noon!”
“Woe to us, for the day is turning;
for the shadows of evening are lengthening.”
“Rise up, and let us attack by night
and destroy her strongholds!”
For this is what the LORD of Hosts says:
“Cut down her trees
and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;
within her there is nothing but oppression.
As a well keeps its water cool,
so she keeps her wickedness fresh.
Violence and devastation are heard within her;
before me are sickness and wounds continually.
Be warned, Jerusalem,
lest my soul turn away from you;
lest I make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
This is what the LORD of Hosts says:
“They will thoroughly glean
the remnant of Israel like a vine.
Pass your hand again over the branches
like one gathering grapes.”
To whom can I speak and give warning,
that they may listen?
Look—their ear is uncircumcised,
and they are unable to pay attention.
Look—the word of the LORD has become an object of scorn to them;
they take no pleasure in it.
But I am full of the wrath 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 together.
For man and woman alike will be taken,
the old and those full of days.
Their houses will be turned over to others,
along with their fields and wives,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the LORD.
“For from the least of them to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for gain;
from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have treated the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed because they committed an abomination?
No, they were not ashamed at all;
they did not even know how to blush.
Therefore they will fall among those who fall;
at the time when I punish them, they will stumble,”
says the LORD.
This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and see;
ask for the ancient paths:
Where is the good way? Walk in it,
and find rest for yourselves.”
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
I set watchmen over you:
“Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!”
But they said, “We will not pay attention.”
Therefore hear, nations;
know, congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, earth!
Look, I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their plans,
because they have not paid attention to my words
and have rejected my instruction.
What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
or the finest cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
and your sacrifices do not please me.
Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“Look, I am placing stumbling blocks before this people;
parents and children alike will stumble over them;
neighbor and friend will perish.”
This is what the LORD says:
“Look, a people is coming from a northern land;
a great nation is roused
from the farthest parts of the earth.
They take hold of bow and javelin.
They are cruel and show no compassion.
Their sound roars like the sea,
and they ride on horses,
drawn up as one man for battle against you,
Daughter Zion.”
“We have heard its report;
our hands have gone limp.
Anguish has seized us,
pain like that of a woman in labor.”
Do not go out into the field,
and do not walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword—
terror is on every side.
Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth
and roll in ashes.
Mourn as for an only child;
make bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come against us.
“I have made you an assayer among my people, a fortress,
that you may know and test their way.
All of them are the most stubborn rebels,
going about as slanderers.
They are bronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
The bellows burn fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire.
In vain they keep refining,
but the wicked are not removed.
They call them rejected silver,
for the LORD has rejected them.”