The LORD said:
6 Run for your lives, people of
Benjamin.
Get out of Jerusalem.
Sound a trumpet in Tekoa
and light a signal fire in Beth-Haccherem.
Soon you will be struck by disaster from the north.
*2Jerusalem is a lovely pasture,
but shepherds will surround it and divide it up,
3then let their flocks eat all
the grass.
4Kings will tell their troops,
"If we reach Jerusalem in the morning,
we'll attack at noon.
But if we arrive later, 5we'll
attack after dark
and destroy its fortresses."
6I am the LORD
All-Powerful,
and I will command these armies to chop down trees
and build a ramp up to the walls of Jerusalem.
People of Jerusalem, I must punish you
for your injustice.
7Evil pours from your city like
water from a spring.
Sounds of violent crimes echo within your walls;
victims are everywhere, wounded and dying.
8Listen to me, you people of
Jerusalem and Judah.
I will abandon you,
and your land will become an empty desert.
9I will tell your enemies to
leave your nation bare
like a vine stripped of grapes.
I, the LORD All-Powerful, have
spoken.
Jeremiah's Anger
10I have told the people that
you, LORD, will punish them,
but they just laugh and refuse to listen.
11Your anger against Judah
flames up inside me,
and I can't hold it in much longer.
The LORD'S Anger Will Sweep
Everyone Away
The LORD answered:
Don't hold back my anger! Let it sweep away everyone
the children at play and all adults, young and old
alike.
12I'll punish the people of Judah and
give to others
their houses and fields, as well as their wives.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13Everyone is greedy and
dishonest, whether poor or rich.
Even the prophets and priests cannot be trusted.
14All they ever offer to my
deeply wounded people
are empty hopes for peace.
15They should be ashamed of
their disgusting sins,
but they don't even blush.
And so, when I punish Judah,
they will end up on the ground,
dead like everyone else.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
The People of Judah Rejected God's Way of Life
16The LORD
said:
My people, when you stood at the crossroads,
I told you, "Follow the road your ancestors took,
and you will find peace."
But you refused.
17I also sent prophets to warn
you of danger,
but when they sounded the
alarm, you paid no attention.
*18So I tell all nations on
earth, "Watch what I will do!
19My people ignored me and
rejected my laws.
They planned to do evil, and now the evil they planned
will happen to them."
20People of Judah, you bring me
incense from Sheba
and spices from distant lands.
You offer sacrifices of all kinds. But why bother?
I hate these gifts of yours!
21So I will put stumbling blocks
in your path,
and everyone will die, including parents and children,
neighbors and friends.
An Army from the North
22The LORD
said,
"Look toward the north, where a powerful nation
has prepared for war.
23Its well-armed troops are
cruel and never show mercy.
Their galloping horses sound like ocean waves
pounding on the shore.
This army will attack you, lovely
Jerusalem."
24Then the people said, "Just
hearing about them
makes us tremble with fear,
and we twist and turn in pain
like a woman giving birth."
25The LORD said,
"Don't work in your fields or walk along the
roads.
It's too dangerous.
The enemy is well armed 26and
attacks without warning.
So mourn, my people, as though your only child had
died.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth and roll in the ash
pile."
The LORD'S People Must Be
Tested
The LORD said:
27Jeremiah, test my people as though
they were metal.
28And you'll find they are hard
like bronze and iron.
They are stubborn rebels, always spreading lies.
*29Silver can be purified in a
fiery furnace,
30but my people are too wicked
to be made pure,
and so I have rejected them.
Return to the Shofar
