[Back] - [Menu] - [Next]

Jeremiah 6

1 O children of Benjamin, seek refuge out of the midst of Jerusalem. Blow the shofar in Tekoa, and set up a signal-fire in Beth-haccerem; for evil appears out of the north, and great destruction.
2 I will destroy the daughter of Zion, being delicate in her dwelling place.
3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch tents against her all around; they shall feed each one in his place.
4 Prepare war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus has Jehovah of Hosts said, Cut down trees and cast a mound against Jerusalem! This is the city to be punished; she is full of oppression in her midst.
7 As a fountain keeps fresh its waters, so she keeps fresh her evil; violence and devastation is heard in her; before Me continually are sickness and wounds.
8 O Jerusalem, be instructed, lest My soul depart from you; lest I make you desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine; as a grape gatherer, put your hand back to the branches.
10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the Word of Jehovah is a reproach to them; they have no delight in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the fury of Jehovah; I am weary with holding it in; I will pour it out on the children outside, and on the group of young men together. For even the husband shall be taken along with the wife, the aged who is full of days.
12 And their houses shall be turned over to others, together with their fields and wives; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says Jehovah.
13 For everyone from the least of them even to the greatest of them profits from unjust gain; and from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely.
14 They have also healed the ruin of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor did they know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I punish them they shall be cast down, says Jehovah.
16 Thus says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it.
17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Listen to the sound of the shofar. But they said, We will not listen.
18 Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is coming upon them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil on this people, the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My Words, nor My Law, but rejected it.
20 For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not pleasing, nor are your sacrifices sweet to Me.
21 Therefore thus says Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble on them; the neighbor and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus says Jehovah, Behold, a people comes from the land of the north, and a great nation shall be aroused from the extremities of the earth.
23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, set in array against you as men of war, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the rumor of it; our hands become feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear are on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and wallow in ashes; make mourning for yourself, as for an only son, most bitter wailing; for the destruction shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have set you up as an inspector, and a fortress among My people, that you may know and examine their way.
28 They all stubbornly rebel, walking in slanders; they are bronze and iron; they are all corrupters.
29 The bellows are scorched, the lead is consumed by the fire; the refiner melts in vain; for the wicked are not drawn off.
30 Rejected silver they call them, because Jehovah has rejected them.
[Back] - [Menu] - [Next]