Jeremiah 6
1 Strengthen yourselves, ye children
of Benjamin, to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem,
and sound an alarm with the trumpet in Thecue, and set up a signal over
Bæthacharma: for evil threatens from the north, and a great destruction is
coming. 2 And
thy pride, O daughter of Sion, shall be taken away.
3 The shepherds and their flocks shall
come to her; and they shall pitch their tents against
her round about, and shall feed their flocks each
with his hand.
4 Prepare yourselves for war against
her; rise up, and let us go up against her at noon. Woe to us! for the day has
gone down, for the shadows of the day fail.
5 Rise, and let us go up against her
by night, and destroy her foundations.
6 For thus saith the Lord, Hew down
her trees, array a numerous force against Jerusalem. O false city;
there is all oppression in her.
7 As a cistern cools water, so her
wickedness cools her, ungodliness and misery shall be heard in her,
as continually before her.
8 Thou shalt be chastened, O
Jerusalem, with pain and the scourge, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I
make thee a desert land, which shall not be inhabited.
9 For thus saith the Lord, Glean,
glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel: turn back
your hands as a grape-gatherer to his basket.
10 To whom shall I speak, and
testify, that he may hearken? behold, thine ears are uncircumcised, and they
shall not be able to hear: behold, the word of the Lord is become to them a
reproach, they will not at all desire it.
11 And I allowed my wrath to come to
the full, yet I kept it in, and did not utterly
destroy them: I will pour it out on the children without, and on the assembly
of young men together: for man and woman shall be taken together, the old man
with him that is full of days. 12 And
their houses shall be turned to others, with their
fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the
inhabitants of this land, saith the Lord.
13 For from the least of them even to
the greatest they have all committed iniquity; from the priest even to the
false prophet they have all wrought falsely.
14 And they healed the breach of my
people imperfectly, making light
of it, and saying, Peace, peace: and where is peace?
15 They were ashamed because they
failed; yet they were not ashamed as those who are
truly ashamed, and they knew not their own disgrace:
therefore shall they utterly fall when they do fall,
and in the time of visitation shall they perish, said the Lord.
16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in
the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths of the Lord; and see what is the
good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find purification for your souls. But
they said, We will not walk in them.
17 I have set watchmen over you,
saying, Hear ye the sound of the trumpet. But they
said, We will not hear it.
18 Therefore have the nations heard,
and they that feed their flocks.
19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will
bring evils upon this people, even the fruit of their
rebellions; for they have not heeded my words, and they have rejected my law.
20 Wherefore do ye bring me
frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a land afar off? your
whole-burnt-offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not been
pleasant to me. 21 Therefore thus
saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring weakness upon
this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbour
and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a
people comes from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end of
the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on
bow and spear; the people is fierce, and will have no
mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war
against thee as fire on horses and chariots, O daughter of Sion.
24 We have heard the report of them:
our hands are weakened: anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in
travail. 25 Go not forth into the
field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round
about. 26 O daughter of my people,
gird thyself with sackcloth: sprinkle thyself with
ashes; make for thyself pitiable lamentation, as the
mourning for a beloved son: for misery will come
suddenly upon you.
27 I have caused thee to be tried
among tried nations, and thou shalt know me when I have tried their way.
28 They are all disobedient, walking perversely:
they are brass and iron; they are all corrupted.
29 The bellows have failed from the
fire, the lead has failed: the silversmith works at his trade in vain; their
wickedness is not consumed. 30 Call
ye them reprobate silver, because the Lord has rejected them.