Jeremiah 6
6FLEE FOR safety, you children of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem! And blow the trumpet in Tekoa [a town far south in Judah], and raise a [fire] signal over Beth-haccherem [a town near Jerusalem]! For evil is looking forth with eagerness from the north, and great destruction.H1121H1144H5756H7130H3389H8628H7782H8620H5375H4864H1021H7451H8259H6828H1419H76672The comely and delicate one, [Jerusalem] the Daughter of Zion, I will destroy. [To a pasturage, yes, a luxurious pasturage, have I likened her.]H1820H1323H6726H5116H60263Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her; they shall pitch their tents round about her; they shall pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her luxurious herbage on every side].H7462H5739H935H8628H168H5439H7462H376H30274Prepare yourselves for war against her [they cry]; up, let us attack her at noon! But alas, the day declines, the evening shadows lengthen.H6942H4421H6965H5927H6672H188H3117H6437H6752H6153H51865Arise, let us go by night and destroy her palaces!H6965H5927H3915H7843H7596For the Lord of hosts has said, Hew down her trees and cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.H3068H6635H559H3772H6097H8210H5550H3389H5892H6485H6233H71307As a fountain wells up {and} casts forth its waters {and} keeps them fresh, so she is [continually] casting forth [fresh] wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard within her; sickness and wounds are continually before Me.H953H6979H4325H6979H7451H2555H7701H8085H6440H8548H2483H43478Be corrected, reformed, instructed, {and} warned, O Jerusalem, lest I be alienated {and} parted from you, lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.H3256H3389H5315H3363H7760H8077H776H34279Thus says the Lord of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine what is left of Israel; turn back your hand again {and} again [O minister of destruction] into the baskets, like a grape gatherer, {and} strip the tendrils [of the vine].H559H3068H6635H5953H5953H7611H3478H1612H7725H3027H1219H555210To whom shall I [Jeremiah] speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised [never brought into covenant with God or consecrated to His service], and they cannot hear {or} obey. Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach {and} the object of their scorn; they have no delight in it.H1696H5749H8085H241H6189H3201H7181H1697H3068H2781H265411Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord; I am weary of restraining it. I will pour it out on the children in the street and on the gathering of young men together; for even the husband with the wife will be taken, the aged with the very old.H4392H2534H3068H3811H3557H8210H5768H2351H5475H970H3162H376H802H3920H2205H4390H311712And their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.H1004H5437H312H7704H802H3162H5186H3027H3427H776H5002H306813For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is given to covetousness (to greed for unjust gain); and from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.H6996H1419H1214H1215H5030H3548H6213H826714They have healed also the wound of the daughter of My people lightly {and} neglectfully, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.H7495H7667H1323H5971H7043H559H7965H7965H796515Were they brought to shame because they had committed abominations (extremely disgusting and vile things)? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.H3001H6213H8441H1571H954H954H1571H3045H3637H5307H5307H6256H6485H3782H559H306816Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads and look; and ask for the eternal paths, where the good, old way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk in it!H559H3068H5975H1870H7200H7592H5769H5410H2896H1870H3212H4672H4771H5315H559H321217Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hear {and} obey the sound of the trumpet! But they said, We will not listen {or} obey.H6965H6822H7181H6963H7782H559H718118Therefore hear, O [Gentile] nations, and know, O congregation [of believing ones], what [great things I will do] to them.H8085H1471H3045H571219Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil upon this people, the fruit of their thoughts (their schemes and devices) because they have not listened {and} obeyed My words, and as for My law, they have rejected it.H8085H776H935H7451H5971H6529H4284H7181H1697H8451H398820To what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba [in southwestern Arabia] and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices sweet {or} pleasing to Me.H935H3828H7614H2896H7070H4801H776H5930H7522H2077H614921Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. And the fathers and the sons together will stumble against them; the neighbor and his friend will perish.H559H3068H5414H4383H5971H1H1121H3162H3782H7934H7453H622Thus says the Lord: Behold, a people is coming from the north country, and a great nation is arousing itself from the ends of the earth.H559H3068H5971H935H6828H776H1419H1471H5782H3411H77623They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel (ruthless and inhuman) and have no mercy. Their voice sounds like the roaring sea; they ride on horses, every one set in array as a man for battle against you, O Daughter of Zion!H2388H7198H3591H394H7355H6963H1993H3220H7392H5483H6186H376H4421H1323H672624We have heard the report of it; our hands become feeble {and} helpless. Anguish has taken hold of us, pangs like that of a woman in childbirth.H8085H8089H3027H7503H6869H2388H2427H320525Go not out into the field nor walk on the road, for the enemy is armed with the sword; terror is on every side.H3318H7704H3212H1870H2719H341H4032H543926O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah], gird yourself with sackcloth and wallow in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us [on prophet and people].H1323H5971H2296H8242H6428H665H6213H60H3173H8563H4553H7703H6597H93527I [says the Lord] have set you [Jeremiah] as an assayer {and} a prover of ore among My people, that you may know and try their doings and be like a watchtower.H5414H969H4013H5971H3045H974H187028They are all the worst [kind] of rebels {and} utter and total revolters against God, going about publishing slander. They are [not gold and silver ore, but] bronze and iron; they are all corrupters.H5493H5637H1980H7400H5178H1270H784329The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain do they continue refining, for the wicked [the dross] are not removed.H4647H2787H5777H8552H800H784H6884H6884H7723H7451H542330Men will call them reprobate {and} rejected silver [only dross, without good metal], because the Lord has rejected them.H3988H3701H7121H3068H3988
Columbus, OH
