Jeremiah 6

New International Reader's Version

The Babylonians Will Attack Jerusalem

6 The Lord says, “People of Benjamin, run for safety!
    Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow trumpets in the city of Tekoa!
    Warn everyone in Beth Hakkerem!
Horrible trouble is coming from the north.
    The Babylonians will destroy everything with awful power.
²I will destroy the city of Zion,
    even though it is very beautiful.
³Shepherds will come against it with their flocks.
    They will set up their tents around it.
    All of them will take care of their own sheep.”

⁴The Babylonians say, “Prepare for battle against Judah!
    Get up! Let’s attack them at noon!
But the daylight is fading.
    The shadows of evening are getting longer.
⁵So get up! Let’s attack them at night!
    Let’s destroy their strongest forts!”

⁶The Lord who rules over all speaks to the Babylonians. He says,

“Cut down some trees.
    Use the wood to build ramps against Jerusalem’s walls.
I must punish that city.
    It is filled with people who treat others badly.
⁷Wells keep giving fresh water.
    And Jerusalem keeps on sinning.
Its people are always fighting and causing trouble.
    When I look at them,
    I see nothing but sickness and wounds.
⁸Jerusalem, listen to my warning.
    If you do not, I will turn away from you.
Your land will become a desert.
    No one will be able to live there.”

⁹The Lord rules over all. He says to me,

“People gather the few grapes left on a vine.
So let Israel’s enemies gather the few people left alive in the land
Look carefully at the branches again.
Do this like someone who gathers the last few grapes.”

¹⁰Who can I speak to? Who can I warn?
    Who will even listen to me?
Their ears are closed
    so they can’t hear.
The Lord’s message displeases them.
    They don’t take any delight in it.
¹¹But the Lord’s anger burns inside me.
    I can no longer hold it in.

The Lord says to me, “Pour out my anger on the children in the street.
    Pour it out on the young men who are gathered together.
Husband and wife alike will be caught in it.
    So will those who are very old.
¹²I will reach out my hand
    against those who live in the land,”
    announces the Lord.
“Then their houses will be turned over to others.
    So will their fields and their wives.
¹³Everyone wants to get richer and richer,
    from the least important of them to the most important.
Prophets and priests alike
    try to fool everyone they can.
¹⁴They bandage the wounds of my people
    as if they were not very deep.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say.
    But there isn’t any peace.
¹⁵Are they ashamed of their hateful actions?
    No. They do not feel any shame at all.
    They do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall like others who have already fallen.
    They will be brought down when I punish them,”
    says the Lord.

¹⁶The Lord tells the people of Judah,

“Stand where the roads cross, and look around.
    Ask where the old paths are.
Ask for the good path, and walk on it.
    Then your hearts will find rest in me.
    But you said, ‘We won’t walk on it.’
¹⁷I appointed prophets to warn you. I said,
    ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpets!’
    But you said, ‘We won’t listen.’
¹⁸So pay attention, you nations.
    You are witnesses for me.
    Watch what will happen to my people.
¹⁹Earth, pay attention.
    I am going to bring trouble on them.
    I will punish them because of the evil things they have done.
They have not listened to my words.
    They have said no to my law.
²⁰What do I care about incense from the land of Sheba?
    Why should I bother with sweet-smelling cane from a land far away?
I do not accept your burnt offerings.
    Your sacrifices do not please me.”

²¹So the Lord says,

“I will bring an army against the people of Judah.
Parents and children alike will trip and fall.
Neighbors and friends will die.”

²²The Lord says to Jerusalem,

“Look! An army is coming
    from the land of the north.
I am stirring up a great nation.
    Its army is coming from a land that is very far away.
²³Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
    They are mean. They do not show any mercy at all.
They come riding in on their horses.
    They sound like the roaring ocean.
They are lined up for battle.
    They are marching out
    to attack you, city of Zion.”

²⁴We have heard reports about them.
    And our hands can’t help us.
We are suffering greatly.
    It’s like the pain of a woman having a baby.
²⁵Don’t go out to the fields.
    Don’t walk on the roads.
Our enemies have swords.
    And there is terror on every side.
²⁶My people, put on the clothes of sadness.
    Roll among the ashes.
Mourn with bitter weeping
    just as you would mourn for an only son.
The one who is going to destroy us
    will come suddenly.

²⁷The Lord says to me, “I have made you like one who tests metals.
    My people are the ore.
I want you to watch them
    and test the way they live.
²⁸All of them are used to disobeying me.
    They go around telling lies about others.
They are like bronze mixed with iron.
    All of them do very sinful things.
²⁹The fire is made very hot
    so the lead will burn away.
But it is impossible to make these people pure.
    Those who are evil are not removed.
³⁰They are like silver that is thrown away.
    That is because I have not accepted them.”