Jeremiah 6 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Disciplines Israel

6“Flee for safety, O sons of ^aBenjamin,From the midst of Jerusalem!Now blow a trumpet in TekoaAnd raise a signal over ¹^,^bBeth-haccerem,For evil looks down from the ^cnorth,As well as great destruction.²“The comely and ^adelicate one, ^bthe daughter of Zion, I will ruin.³“^aShepherds and their flocks will come to her;They will ^bpitch their tents ¹around her;They will pasture each in his ²place.⁴“^aSet yourselves apart for war against her;Arise, and let us go up at ^bnoon.Woe to us, for the day declines,For the shadows of the evening stretch out!⁵“Arise, and let us go up by nightAnd ¹^,^adestroy her ²palaces!”⁶For thus says Yahweh of hosts,“^aCut down her treesAnd cast up a ^bsiege against Jerusalem.This is the city to be punished,In whose midst there is only ^coppression.⁷“^aLike a well ¹keeps its waters fresh,So she ²keeps fresh her evil.^bViolence and devastation are heard in her;^cSickness and wounds are continually before Me.⁸“^aHeed discipline, O Jerusalem,Lest ^bMy soul become disgusted at you,Lest I make you a desolation,A land not inhabited.”

⁹Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “They will ^athoroughly glean as the vine the ^bremnant of Israel;Pass your hand again like a grape gathererOver the branches.”

¹⁰To whom shall I speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ^aears are uncircumcised,And they cannot give heed.Behold, ^bthe word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;They have no delight in it.¹¹But I am ^afull of the wrath of Yahweh;I am ^bweary of holding it in.“^cPour it out on the infants in the streetAnd on the ¹gathering of choice men together;For both husband and wife shall be captured,The aged with the one full of days.¹²“Their ^ahouses shall be turned over to others,Their fields and their wives together,For I will ^bstretch out My handAgainst the inhabitants of the land,” declares Yahweh.¹³“For ^afrom the least of them even to the greatest of them,Everyone is ^bgreedy for gain,And from the prophet even to the priestEveryone practices lying.¹⁴“They have ^ahealed the brokenness of My people superficially,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’But there is no peace.¹⁵“Were they ^aashamed because of the abomination they have done?They were not even ashamed at all;They did not even know how to feel dishonor.Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish them,They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ^aancient paths,Where the good way is, and walk in it;And ^byou will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

¹⁷“And I set ^awatchmen over you, saying,‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’¹⁸“Therefore hear, O nations,And know, O congregation, what is among them.¹⁹“^aHear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,The ^bfruit of their ¹plans,Because they have not given heed to My words,And as for My law, they have ^crejected it also.²⁰“^aFor what purpose does ^bfrankincense come to Me from ShebaAnd the ¹^,^csweet cane from a distant land?^dYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”²¹Therefore, thus says Yahweh,“Behold, ^aI am ¹laying stumbling blocks before this people.And they will stumble against them,^bFathers and sons together;Neighbor and ²friend will perish.”

Mourn the Coming Destroyer

²²Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, ^aa people is coming from the land of the north,And a great nation will be aroused from the ^bremote parts of the earth.

²³“They take hold of ^abow and spear;They are ^bcruel and have no compassion;Their voice ^croars like the sea,And they ride on horses,Arranged as a man for the battleAgainst you, O daughter of Zion!”²⁴We have ^aheard the report of it;Our hands are limp.^bDistress has taken hold of us,Pain as of a woman in childbirth.²⁵^aDo not go out into the fieldAnd ^bdo not walk on the road,For the enemy has a sword;^cTerror is on every side.²⁶O daughter of my people, ^agird yourself with sackclothAnd ^broll in ashes;¹^,^cMourn as for an only son,A lamentation most bitter.For suddenly the destroyerWill come upon us.²⁷“I have ^amade you a tester of metals and ¹an assayer among My people,That you may know and test their way.”²⁸All of them are rebelliously stubborn,^aGoing about as a slanderer.They are ^bbronze and iron;They, all of them, are corrupt.²⁹The bellows blow fiercely;The lead ¹is consumed by the fire;In vain the refining goes on,But the ^aevil ones are not ²separated.³⁰^aThey call them rejected silverBecause ^bYahweh has rejected them.