Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

Jeremiah 6

1 Flee for safety, z O people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in a Tekoa,
and raise a signal on b Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms c out of the north,
and great destruction.
 2 The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
d the daughter of Zion. 1
3 e Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
f they shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, each in his place.
 4 g "Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us attack h at noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!
 5 Arise, and let us attack by night
and destroy her palaces!"

6 For thus says the Lord of hosts:
i "Cut down her trees;
j cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be k punished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
 7 l As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil;
m violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
 8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
n lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you o a desolation,
an uninhabited land."

9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
p "They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches."
 10 q To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
r Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
s they cannot listen;
behold, t the word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
 11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
u I am weary of holding it in.
v "Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
w both husband and wife x shall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
 12 y Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,"
declares the Lord.
 13 z "For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone a is greedy for unjust gain;
and from b prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
 14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, c 'Peace, peace,'
d when there is no peace.
 15 e Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
f at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,"
says the Lord.

16 Thus says the Lord:
"Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for g the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
h and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
 17 i I set watchmen over you, saying,
'Pay attention to j the sound of the trumpet!'
But they said, k 'We will not pay attention.'
 18 Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
 19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
l the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
 20 m What use to me is n frankincense that comes from o Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
p Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
 21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
q 'Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.'"

22 Thus says the Lord:
r "Behold, a people is coming s from the north country,
a great nation is stirring from t the farthest parts of the earth.
 23 They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are u cruel and have no mercy;
v the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!"
 24 We have heard the report of it;
w our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
x pain as of a woman in labor.
 25 Go not out into the field,
nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
y terror is on every side.
 26 O daughter of my people, z put on sackcloth,
and a roll in ashes;
b make mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.

27 "I have made you c a tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and d test their ways.
 28 e They are all stubbornly rebellious,
f going about with slanders;
they are g bronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
 29 The g bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
h in vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
 30 i Rejected silver they are called,
for the Lord has rejected them."

  1. Cross References
    Judges 1:21
    But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
  2. Cross References
    2 Samuel 14:2
    And Joab sent to Tekoa and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, "Pretend to be a mourner and put on mourning garments. Do not anoint yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead.
  3. Cross References
    Nehemiah 3:14
    Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars.
  4. Cross References
    Jeremiah 1:14
    Then the Lord said to me, "Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land.
  5. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:21
    This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: "She despises you, she scorns you - the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you - the daughter of Jerusalem.
  6. Cross References
    Jeremiah 23:1
    Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord.
  7. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:17
    Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
  8. Cross References
    Jeremiah 22:7
    I will prepare destroyers against you, each with his weapons, and they shall cut down your choicest cedars and cast them into the fire.
    Joel 3:9
    Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up.
    Jeremiah 51:27
    Set up a standard on the earth; blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against her; summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like bristling locusts.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 15:8
    I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 20:20
    Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
  11. Cross References
    2 Kings 19:32
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
    Isaiah 37:33
    Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
    Ezekiel 26:8
    He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you.
    Luke 19:43
    For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
  12. Cross References
    Luke 19:44
    And tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 57:20
    But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.
  14. Cross References
    Psalms 55:9
    Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
    Ezekiel 7:11
    Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them.
    Ezekiel 7:23
    Forge a chain! For the land is full of bloody crimes and the city is full of violence.
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:18
    When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister.
    Hosea 9:12
    Even if they bring up children, I will bereave them till none is left. Woe to them when I depart from them!
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:7
    A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant.
  17. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 24:21
    When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 28:9
    To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast?
    Isaiah 53:1
    Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
  19. Cross References
    Exodus 6:12
    But Moses said to the Lord, "Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?
    Acts 7:51
    You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
  20. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:26
    Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.
  21. Cross References
    Jeremiah 20:8
    For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, "Violence and destruction!" For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
  22. Cross References
    Jeremiah 20:9
    If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
  23. Cross References
    Jeremiah 9:21
    For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.
  24. Cross References
    Lamentations 2:21
    In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.
  25. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:9
    The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom is in them?
  26. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:12 - 15
    Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land," declares the Lord.
    Jeremiah 8:10 - 12
    Therefore I will give their wives to others and their fields to conquerors, because from the least to the greatest everyone is greedy for unjust gain; from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
  27. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:34
    And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
    Jeremiah 44:12
    I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt.
    Jonah 3:5
    And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
  28. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:11
    The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.
  29. Cross References
    Jeremiah 14:18
    If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.'
    Jeremiah 23:11
    Both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in my house I have found their evil, declares the Lord.
    Micah 3:11
    Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, "Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.
    Jeremiah 5:31
    The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?
  30. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:10
    Then I said, "Ah, Lord God, surely you have utt...
    Jeremiah 14:13
    Then I said: "Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophet...
    Jeremiah 23:17
    They say continually to those who despise the w...
    Ezekiel 13:10
    Precisely because they have misled my people, s...
    Micah 3:5
    Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who ...
    John 14:27
    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you....
  31. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:22
    "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."
    Isaiah 57:21
    There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked.
    Ezekiel 7:25
    When anguish comes, they will seek peace, but there shall be none.
  32. Cross References
    Jeremiah 3:3
    Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore; you refuse to be ashamed.
    Jeremiah 8:12
    Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.
  33. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:6
    For thus says the Lord of hosts: "Cut down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city that must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.
  34. Cross References
    Jeremiah 18:15
    But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway.
    Isaiah 8:20
    To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
    Malachi 4:4
    Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
    Luke 16:29
    But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.
  35. Cross References
    Matthew 11:29
    Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
    Psalms 116:7
    Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
  36. Cross References
    Isaiah 56:10
    His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
    Isaiah 21:11
    The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir, "Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?
  37. Cross References
    Isaiah 58:1
    Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.
    Jeremiah 4:19
    My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
  38. Cross References
    Jeremiah 44:16
    As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you.
  39. Cross References
    Proverbs 1:31
    Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
  40. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:11
    What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord ; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
  41. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:23
    You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
    Isaiah 60:6
    A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.
  42. Cross References
    1 Kings 10:1
    Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.
  43. Cross References
    Jeremiah 7:21 - 22
    Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.
    Jeremiah 14:12
    Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
    Psalms 40:6
    In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
    Isaiah 1:11
    What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord ; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.
    Amos 5:21
    I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
  44. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:20
    Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand.
  45. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:22 - 24
    Thus says the Lord : "Behold, a people is coming from the north country, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
    Jeremiah 50:41 - 43
    Behold, a people comes from the north; a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
  46. Cross References
    Jeremiah 1:13
    The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.
  47. Cross References
    Jeremiah 25:32
    Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, disaster is going forth from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth!
    Jeremiah 31:8
    Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
  48. Cross References
    Isaiah 13:9
    Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.
    Isaiah 13:18
    Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children.
  49. Cross References
    Isaiah 17:12
    Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters!
  50. Cross References
    Jeremiah 38:4
    Then the officials said to the king, "Let this man be put to death, for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.
    Jeremiah 49:24
    Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee, and panic seized her; anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her, as of a woman in labor.
    Ezekiel 21:7
    And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,'" declares the Lord God.
    2 Samuel 4:1
    When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.
    Ezekiel 7:17
    All hands are feeble, and all knees turn to water.
  51. Cross References
    Isaiah 13:8
    They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.
  52. Cross References
    Psalms 31:13
    For I hear the whispering of many - terror on every side! - as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.
    Lamentations 2:22
    You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed.
    Job 18:11
    Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.
  53. Cross References
    Jeremiah 4:8
    For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us.
    Esther 4:1
    When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
  54. Cross References
    Jeremiah 25:34
    Wail, you shepherds, and cry out, and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come, and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
    Ezekiel 27:30
    And shout aloud over you and cry out bitterly. They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.
    Lamentations 3:16
    He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes.
    Micah 1:10
    Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all; in Beth-le-aphrah roll yourselves in the dust.
  55. Cross References
    Amos 8:10
    I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.
    Zechariah 12:10
    And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
  56. Cross References
    Jeremiah 1:18
    And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
  57. Cross References
    Jeremiah 9:7
    Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of my people?
  58. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:23
    But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and gone away.
  59. Cross References
    Jeremiah 9:4
    Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
    Leviticus 19:16
    You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
  60. Cross References
    Ezekiel 22:18
    Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are dross of silver.
    Ezekiel 22:20
    As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, to blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you.
  61. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:28
    They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron; all of them act corruptly.
  62. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:25
    I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.
  63. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:22
    Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.
    Ezekiel 22:19 - 20
    Therefore thus says the Lord God : Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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