Jeremiah
6 Take shelter, O sons of Benjamin, away from Jerusalem.
For a calamity looms from the north, a great disaster.+
2 The daughter of Zion resembles a beautiful and delicate woman.+
3 The shepherds and their droves will come.
4 “Prepare for* war against her!
Rise up, and let us attack her at midday!”
“Woe to us, for the day is declining,
For the shadows of evening are getting longer!”
6 For this is what Jehovah of armies says:
“Cut down wood and raise up a siege rampart against Jerusalem.+
She is the city that must be held to account;
There is nothing but oppression within her.+
Violence and destruction are heard in her;+
Sickness and plague are constantly before me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem, or I* will turn away from you in disgust;+
I will make you desolate, a land without inhabitants.”+
9 This is what Jehovah of armies says:
“They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as the last grapes on a vine.
Pass your hand again like one gathering grapes from the vines.”
10 “To whom should I speak and give warning?
Who will listen?
Look! Their ears are closed,* so that they are unable to pay attention.+
Look! The word of Jehovah has become something they scorn;+
They find no pleasure in it.
“Pour it out on the child in the street,+
On the groups of young men gathered together.
For I will stretch my hand out against the inhabitants of the land,” declares Jehovah.
13 “For from the least to the greatest, each one is making dishonest gain;+
From the prophet to the priest, each one is practicing fraud.+
14 And they try to heal the breakdown* of my people lightly,* saying,
‘There is peace! There is peace!’
When there is no peace.+
15 Do they feel ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
They feel no shame at all!
They do not even know how to feel humiliated!+
So they will fall among the fallen.
When I bring punishment on them they will stumble,” says Jehovah.
16 This is what Jehovah says:
“Stand at the crossroads and see.
Ask about the ancient roadways,
Ask where the good way is, and walk in it,+
And find rest for yourselves.”*
But they say: “We will not walk in it.”+
But they said: “We will not pay attention.”+
18 “Therefore hear, O nations!
And know, O assembly,
What will happen to them.
19 Listen, O earth!
I am bringing calamity on this people+
As the fruitage of their own schemes,
For they paid no attention to my words
And they rejected my law.”*
Your whole burnt offerings are not acceptable,
And your sacrifices do not please me.”+
21 Therefore this is what Jehovah says:
“Here I am setting for this people stumbling blocks,
And they will stumble over them,
Fathers and sons together,
A neighbor and his companion,
And they will all perish.”+
22 This is what Jehovah says:
“Look! A people is coming from the land of the north,
And a great nation will be awakened from the remotest parts of the earth.+
23 They will grab hold of the bow and the javelin.
They are cruel and will have no mercy.
Their voice will roar like the sea,
And they ride on horses.+
They draw up in battle order like a man of war against you, O daughter of Zion.”
24 We have heard the report about it.
25 Do not go out into the field,
And do not walk on the road,
For the enemy has a sword;
There is terror all around.
27 “I have made you* a metal tester among my people,
One making a thorough search;
You must take note and examine their way.
They are like copper and iron;
All of them are corrupt.
29 The bellows have been scorched.
Out from their fire there is lead.