RSV Jeremiah 6 Chapter
6:1
Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Teko'a, and raise a signal on Beth-hacche'rem;for evil looms out of the north, and great destruction.
6:2
The comely and delicately bred I will destroy, the daughter of Zion.
6:3
Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;they shall pitch their tents around her, they shall pasture, each in his place.
6:4
'Prepare war against her;up, and let us attack at noon!' 'Woe to us, for the day declines, for the shadows of evening lengthen!'
6:5
'Up, and let us attack by night, and destroy her palaces!'
6:6
For thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Hew down her trees;cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished;there is nothing but oppression within her.
6:7
As a well keeps its water fresh, so she keeps fresh her wickedness;violence and destruction are heard within her;sickness and wounds are ever before me.
6:8
Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I be alienated from you;lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.'
6:9
Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel;like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again over its branches.'
6:10
To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed, they cannot listen;behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn, they take no pleasure in it.
6:11
Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;I am weary of holding it in. 'Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also;both husband and wife shall be taken, the old folk and the very aged.
6:12
Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together;for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land,' says the LORD.
6:13
'For from the least to the greatest of them, every one is greedy for unjust gain;and from prophet to priest, every one deals falsely.
6:14
They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace,' when there is no peace.
6:15
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed;they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,' says the LORD.
6:16
Thus says the LORD: 'Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is;and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.'
6:17
I set watchmen over you, saying, Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, We will not give heed.'
6:18
Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
6:19
Hear, O earth;behold, I am bringing evil upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not given heed to my words;and as for my law, they have rejected it.
6:20
To what purpose does frankincense come to me from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
6:21
Therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will lay before this people stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;fathers and sons together, neighbor and friend shall perish.''
6:22
Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
6:23
They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel and have no mercy, the sound of them is like the roaring sea;they ride upon horses, set in array as a man for battle, against you, O daughter of Zion!'
6:24
We have heard the report of it, our hands fall helpless;anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in travail.
6:25
Go not forth into the field, nor walk on the road;for the enemy has a sword, terror is on every side.
6:26
O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, and roll in ashes;make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation;for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
6:27
'I have made you an assayer and tester among my people, that you may know and assay their ways.
6:28
They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders;they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly.
6:29
The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire;in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed.
6:30
Refuse silver they are called, for the LORD has rejected them.'