Jeremiah 6:22-30 ▼

22 This is what the LORD says: Look, an army is coming from a northern land; a great nation will be stirred up from the remote regions of the earth.

23 They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.

24 We have heard about it, and our hands have become weak. Distress has seized us — pain, like a woman in labor.

25 Don’t go out to the fields; don’t walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.

26 My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn as you would for an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

27 I have appointed you to be an assayer among my people — a refiner — so you may know and assay their way of life.

28 All are stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

29 The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.

30 They are called rejected silver, for the LORD has rejected them.