6Jeremiah 6

Jerusalem Is Surrounded by Enemies

1People of Benjamin, run for safety! Escape from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and build a signal fire in Beth Haccherem. Disaster and destruction are about to come from the north.Select Jeremiah 6:1

2The city of Zion is beautiful, but it will be destroyed;Select Jeremiah 6:2

3kings will camp there with their armies. They will pitch their tents around the city, and each of them will camp wherever they want.Select Jeremiah 6:3

4They will say, “Prepare to attack Jerusalem! Get ready! We'll attack at noon!” But then they will say, “It's too late, the day is almost over, and the evening shadows are growing long.Select Jeremiah 6:4

5We'll attack by night; we'll destroy the city's fortresses.”Select Jeremiah 6:5

6The Lord Almighty has ordered these kings to cut down trees and build mounds in order to besiege Jerusalem. He has said, “I will punish this city because it is full of oppression.Select Jeremiah 6:6

7As a well keeps its water fresh, so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh. I hear violence and destruction in the city; sickness and wounds are all I see.Select Jeremiah 6:7

8People of Jerusalem, let these troubles be a warning to you, or else I will abandon you; I will turn your city into a desert, a place where no one lives.”Select Jeremiah 6:8

Rebellious Israel

9The Lord Almighty said to me, “Israel will be stripped clean like a vineyard from which every grape has been picked. So you must rescue everyone you can while there is still time.”Select Jeremiah 6:9

10I answered, “Who would listen to me if I spoke to them and warned them? They are stubborn and refuse to listen to your message; they laugh at what you tell me to say.Select Jeremiah 6:10

11Your anger against them burns in me too, Lord, and I can't hold it in any longer.” Then the Lord said to me, “Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared.Select Jeremiah 6:11

12Their houses will be given to others, and so will their fields and their wives. I am going to punish the people of this land.Select Jeremiah 6:12

13Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat the people.Select Jeremiah 6:13

14They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. ‘All is well,’ they say, when all is not well.Select Jeremiah 6:14

15Were they ashamed because they did these disgusting things? No, they were not at all ashamed; they don't even know how to blush. And so they will fall as others have fallen; when I punish them, that will be the end of them. I, the Lord, have spoken.”Select Jeremiah 6:15

Israel Rejects God's Way

16The Lord said to his people, “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace.” But they said, “No, we will not!”Select Jeremiah 6:16

17Then the Lord appointed sentries to listen for the trumpet's warning. But they said, “We will not listen.”Select Jeremiah 6:17

18So the Lord said, “Listen, you nations, and learn what is going to happen to my people.Select Jeremiah 6:18

19Listen, earth! As punishment for all their schemes I am bringing ruin on these people, because they have rejected my teaching and have not obeyed my words.Select Jeremiah 6:19

20What do I care about the incense they bring me from Sheba, or the spices from a distant land? I will not accept their offerings or be pleased with their sacrifices.Select Jeremiah 6:20

21And so I will make these people stumble and fall. Parents and children will die, and so will friends and neighbors.”Select Jeremiah 6:21

Invasion from the North

22The Lord says, “People are coming from a country in the north; a mighty nation far away is preparing for war.Select Jeremiah 6:22

23They have taken up their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Jerusalem.”Select Jeremiah 6:23

24“We have heard the news,” say the people of Jerusalem, “and our hands hang limp; we are seized by anguish and pain like a woman in labor.Select Jeremiah 6:24

25We don't dare go to the countryside or walk on the roads, because our enemies are armed and terror is all around us.”Select Jeremiah 6:25

26The Lord says to his people, “Put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter tears as you would for an only child, because the one who comes to destroy you will suddenly attack.Select Jeremiah 6:26

27Jeremiah, test my people, as you would test metal, and find out what they are like.Select Jeremiah 6:27

28They are all stubborn rebels, hard as bronze and iron. They are all corrupt, going around and spreading gossip.Select Jeremiah 6:28

29The furnace burns fiercely, but the waste metals do not melt and run off. It is useless to go on refining my people, because those who are evil are not taken away.Select Jeremiah 6:29

30They will be called worthless dross, because I, the Lord, have rejected them.”Select Jeremiah 6:30