Jeremiah 6

¹Flee for safety , O people of Benjamin , from the midst of Jerusalem ! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa , and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem , for disaster looms out of the north , and great destruction .

²The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy , the daughter of Zion .

³Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture , each in his place .

⁴Prepare war against her; arise , and let us attack at noon ! Woe to us, for the day declines , for the shadows of evening lengthen !

⁵Arise , and let us attack by night and destroy her palaces !

⁶For thus says the Lord of hosts : Cut down her trees ; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem . This is the city that must be punished ; there is nothing but oppression within her.

⁷As a well keeps its water fresh , so she keeps fresh her evil ; violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are ever before me.

⁸Be warned , O Jerusalem , lest I turn from you in disgust , lest I make you a desolation , an uninhabited land .

⁹Thus says the Lord of hosts : They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel ; like a grape gatherer pass your hand again over its branches .

¹⁰To whom shall I speak and give warning , that they may hear ? Behold , their ears are uncircumcised , they cannot listen ; behold , the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn ; they take no pleasure in it.

¹¹Therefore 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 elderly and the very aged .

¹²Their 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 , declares the Lord.

¹³For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain ; and from prophet to priest , everyone deals falsely .

¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly , saying , Peace , peace , when there is no peace .

¹⁵Were 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.

¹⁶Thus 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.

¹⁷I set watchmen over you, saying, Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet ! But they said , We will not pay attention .

¹⁸Therefore hear , O nations , and know , O congregation , what will happen to them.

¹⁹Hear , O earth ; behold , I am bringing disaster upon this people , the fruit of their devices , because they have not paid attention to my words ; and as for my law , they have rejected it.

²⁰What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba , or sweet cane from a distant land ? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable , nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.

²¹Therefore 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 .

²²Thus says the Lord: Behold , a people is coming from the north country , a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth .

²³They lay hold on bow and javelin ; they are cruel and have no mercy ; the sound of them is like the roaring sea ; they ride on horses , set in array as a man for battle , against you, O daughter of Zion !

²⁴We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless ; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor .

²⁵Go not out into the field , nor walk on the road , for the enemy has a sword ; terror is on every side .

²⁶O daughter of my people , put on sackcloth , and roll in ashes ; make mourning as for an only son , most bitter lamentation , for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

²⁷I have made you a tester of metals among my people , that you may know and test their ways .

²⁸They are all stubbornly rebellious , going about with slanders ; they are bronze and iron ; all of them act corruptly .

²⁹The bellows blow fiercely ; the lead is consumed by the fire ; in vain the refining goes on , for the wicked are not removed .

³⁰Rejected silver they are called , for the Lord has rejected them.