Jeremiah 6:1-13 ▼

1 “Flee to safety, you sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a warning signal over Beth-haccerem; For evil looks down from the north, Along with a great destruction.

2 “The beautiful and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will destroy.

3 “Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture, each in his place.

4 ‘Prepare for war against her; Arise, and let’s attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day declines, For the shadows of the evening lengthen!

5 ‘Arise, and let’s attack by night And destroy her palaces!’”

6 For this is what the LORD of armies says: “Cut down her trees And pile up an assault ramp against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, In whose midst there is only oppression.

7 “As a well keeps its waters fresh, So she keeps fresh her wickedness. Violence and destruction are heard in her; Sickness and wounds are constantly before Me.

8 “Be warned, Jerusalem, Or I shall be alienated from you, And make you a desolation, An uninhabited land.”

9 This is what the LORD of armies says: “They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like the vine; Pass your hand over the branches again Like a grape gatherer.”

10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become for them a rebuke; They take no delight in it.

11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The old and the very old.

12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.

13 “For from the least of them to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet to the priest Everyone deals falsely.