Jeremiah 4:5-Jeremiah 6:30 - An Invasion From The North
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places if it, if ye can find a man, if there is any who does justly, who seeks truth, and I will pardon her. 2 And though they say, As LORD lives, surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, do not thine eyes look upon truth? Thou have stricken them, but they were not grieved. Thou have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused t
4 Then I said, Surely these are poor, they are foolish, for they know not the way of LORD, nor the law of their God. 5 I will go to the great men, and will speak to them, for they know the way of LORD, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them; a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are m
7 How can I pardon thee? Thy sons have forsaken me, and sworn by those who are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots' houses. 8 They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? says LORD. And shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy, but make not a full end. Take away her branches, for they are not LORD's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, says LORD. 12 They have denied LORD, and said, It is not he. Neither shall evil come upon us, nor shall we see sword nor famine. 13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them.
14 Therefore thus says LORD, the God of hosts: Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, says LORD. It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou know not, nor understand what they say. 16 Their quiver is an open sepulcher. They are all mighty men. 17 And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat. They shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds. They shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees. They shall beat down thy fortified cities,
18 But even in those days, says LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why has LORD our God done all these things to us? Then thou shall say to them, Just as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so ye shall serve strangers in a land t 20 Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, who have eyes, and see not, who have ears, and hear not: 22 Do ye not fear me? says LORD. Will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? And though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet they cannot prevai 23 But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart. They have revolted and gone. 24 Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear LORD our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season, who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. 26 For among my people are found wicked men. They watch as fowlers lay in wait. They set a trap; they catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grown rich. 28 They have grown fat. They shine. Yea, they overflow in deeds of wickedness. They do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper. And they do not judge the right of the needy. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? says LORD. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 An astonishing and horrible thing has come to pass in the land. 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?
1 Flee for safety, ye sons of Benjamin, out of the midst of Jerusalem. And blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem. For evil looks forth from the north, and a great destruction. 2 The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, I will cut off. 3 Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her round about. They shall feed every one in his place. 4 Prepare ye war against her. Arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe to us! For the day declines; for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus has LORD of hosts said: Hew ye down trees, and cast up a mound against Jerusalem. This is the city to be visited. She has oppression completely in the midst of her. 7 As a well casts forth its waters, so she casts forth her wickedness. Violence and destruction is heard in her. Continually before me is sickness and wounds. 8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from thee, lest I make thee a desolation, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus says LORD of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine. Turn again thy hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak and testify, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken. Behold, the word of LORD has become to them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of LORD. I am weary with holding in. Pour it out upon the sons in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together. For even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him who is 12 And their houses shall be turned to others, their fields and their wives together. For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, says LORD.
13 For from the least of them even to the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness. And from the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely. 14 They have also lightly healed the hurt of my people, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall. At the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, says LORD.
16 Thus says LORD, Stand ye in the ways and see. And ask for the old paths where is the good way. And walk in it, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk. 17 And I set watchmen over you, [saying], Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. 19 Hear, O earth: Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened to my words. And as for my law, they have rejected it. 20 To what purpose does there come to me frankincense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. 21 Therefore thus says LORD: Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus says LORD, Behold, a people comes from the north country, and a great nation shall be stirred up from the outermost parts of the earth. 23 They lay hold on bow and spear. They are cruel, and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses. Each one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the report of it. Our hands grow feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail. 25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way, for the sword of the enemy, [and] terror, are on every side. 26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes. Make thee mourning, as for an only son, a most bitter lamentation. For the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have made thee a prover [and] a fortress among my people, that thou may know and try their way. 28 They are all grievous revolters, going about with slanders. They are brass and iron. They all of them deal corruptly. 29 The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed of the fire. In vain do they go on refining, for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Waste silver, men shall call them, because LORD has rejected them.