Jeremiah 6

1 “Be strong, sons of Benjamin — get out of the midst of Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and raise a signal over Beth-haccherem, because disaster is looking out from the north, and a great shattering is coming.”

2 “And your pride will be taken away, daughter of Zion.”

3 “Shepherds and their flocks will come to her; they will pitch their tents against her all around, and each will shepherd with his own hand.”

4 “Prepare for war against her! Get up, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day has turned, and the evening shadows are fading.”

5 “Get up, and let us attack by night and destroy her foundations.”

6 “This is what the Lord says: Cut down her trees; pour out an army against Jerusalem. False city — she is all oppression inside.”

7 “As a cistern keeps its water cold, so she keeps her wickedness cold. Ungodliness and misery will be heard in her, before her face continually.”

8 “With pain and the whip you will be disciplined, Jerusalem — or else my soul will pull away from you, and I will make you an uninhabited wasteland where no one will live.”

9 “This is what the Lord says: Glean, glean those who remain of Israel like a vine; turn your hands back, like a grape-picker to his basket.”

10 “To whom should I speak and give warning, so that someone listens? Look, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear. Look, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; they want none of it.”

11 “And I filled up my anger, yet I held it in and did not finish them. Now I will pour it out on the children outside and on the gathering of young men together; man and woman will be taken alike, the elder with the one full of days.”

12 “And their houses will pass to others, their fields and their wives together, because I will stretch out my hand against those living in this land, says the Lord.”

13 “For from the least of them to the greatest, they have all committed lawless deeds; from the priest to the false prophet, they have all dealt falsely.”

14 “They treated the wound of my people as nothing, making light of it and saying, ‘Peace, peace’ — and where is peace?”

15 “They were put to shame because they failed — yet they were not ashamed the way the shamed are ashamed, and they did not recognize their own disgrace. Therefore they will fall in their downfall, and at the time of their reckoning they will perish, says the Lord.”

16 “This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths of the Lord. See which way is the good one, and walk in it, and you will find cleansing for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

17 “I have set watchmen over you: Listen for the sound of the trumpet. But they said, ‘We will not listen.’”

18 “Therefore the nations have heard, and so have those who shepherd their flocks.”

19 “Hear, earth: look, I am bringing disaster on this people — the fruit of their turning away — because they paid no attention to my words and rejected my law.”

20 “Why do you bring me frankincense from Sheba and cinnamon from a distant land? Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me.”

21 “Therefore this is what the Lord says: Look, I am bringing weakness on this people; fathers and sons together will grow weak under it, and neighbor and friend will perish.”

22 “This is what the Lord says: Look, a people is coming from the north, and nations will be roused from the end of the earth.”

23 “They grip bow and spear. The people is fierce and will show no mercy. Their sound is like the surging sea. With horses and chariots they will form up like fire for war against you, daughter of Zion.”

24 “We heard the report of them; our hands went limp. Anguish gripped us — pangs like a woman’s in labor.”

25 “Do not go out into the field; do not walk on the roads, for the sword of the enemy waits all around.”

26 “Daughter of my people, put on sackcloth and sprinkle yourself with ashes. Take up mourning as for a beloved son, a pitiful lament, for misery will come on you suddenly.”

27 “I have made you a tester of metal among peoples already tested, and you will know me when I test their way.”

28 “They are all unwilling to hear, walking crooked paths; they are bronze and iron, all of them corrupt.”

29 “The bellows have failed in the fire; the lead is used up. The silversmith refines for nothing — their wickedness has not melted away.”

30 “Call them rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.”