The Book of Jeremiah
6:1 Flee for safety, ye children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem, and
blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem; for evil
looketh forth from the north, and a great destruction. 6:2The comely and delicate
one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off. 6:3Shepherds with their flocks shall come
unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every
one in his place. 6:4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe
unto us! for the day declineth, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
6:5Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces. 6:6For thus hath
Jehovah of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against
Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of
her. 6:7As a well casteth forth its waters, so she casteth forth her wickedness:
violence and destruction is heard in her; before me continually is sickness and
wounds. 6:8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee;
lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited. 6:9Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,
They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn again thy hand as
a grape-gatherer into the baskets. 6:10To whom shall I speak and testify, that they
may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold,
the word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.
6:11Therefore I am full of the wrath of Jehovah; I am weary with holding in: pour it
out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together;
for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of
days. 6:12And their houses shall be turned unto others, their fields and their wives
together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith
Jehovah. 6:13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is
given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one
dealeth falsely. 6:14They have healed also the hurt of my people slightly, saying,
Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 6:15Were they ashamed when they had
committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they
blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time that I visit them
they shall be cast down, saith Jehovah. 6:16Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways
and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and
ye shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk therein. 6:17And I
set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet; but they
said, We will not hearken. 6:18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O
congregation, what is among them. 6:19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon
this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto
my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. 6:20To what purpose cometh
there to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your
burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing unto me.
6:21Therefore thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this
people; and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them; the
neighbor and his friend shall perish. 6:22Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, a people
cometh from the north country; and a great nation shall be stirred up from the
uttermost parts of the earth. 6:23They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and
have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they ride upon horses, every
one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion. 6:24We
have heard the report thereof; our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of
us, and pangs as of a woman in travail. 6:25Go not forth into the field, nor walk by
the way; for the sword of the enemy, and terror, are on every side. 6:26O daughter
of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee
mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall
suddenly come upon us. 6:27I have made thee a trier and a fortress among my
people; that thou mayest know and try their way. 6:28They are all grievous
revolters, going about with slanders; they are brass and iron: they all of them deal
corruptly. 6:29The bellows blow fiercely; the lead is consumed of the fire: in vain
do they go on refining; for the wicked are not plucked away. 6:30Refuse silver shall
men them, because Jehovah hath rejected them.