Jeremiah 6:1-30
The Babylonians Will Attack Jerusalem
The Lord says, “People of Benjamin, run for safety!
Run away from Jerusalem!
Blow trumpets in the city of Tekoa!
Warn everyone in Beth Hakkerem!
Horrible trouble is coming from the north.
The Babylonians will destroy everything with awful power.
I will destroy the city of Zion,
even though it is very beautiful.
Shepherds will come against it with their flocks.
They will set up their tents around it.
All of them will take care of their own sheep.”
The Babylonians say, “Prepare for battle against Judah!
Get up! Let’s attack them at noon!
But the daylight is fading.
The shadows of evening are getting longer.
So get up! Let’s attack them at night!
Let’s destroy their strongest forts!”
The Lord who rules over all speaks to the Babylonians. He says,
“Cut down some trees.
Use the wood to build ramps against Jerusalem’s walls.
I must punish that city.
It is filled with people who treat others badly.
Wells keep giving fresh water.
And Jerusalem keeps on sinning.
Its people are always fighting and causing trouble.
When I look at them,
I see nothing but sickness and wounds.
Jerusalem, listen to my warning.
If you do not, I will turn away from you.
Your land will become a desert.
No one will be able to live there.”
The Lord rules over all. He says to me,
“People gather the few grapes left on a vine.
So let Israel’s enemies gather the few people left alive in the land
Look carefully at the branches again.
Do this like someone who gathers the last few grapes.”
Who can I speak to? Who can I warn?
Who will even listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they can’t hear.
The Lord’s message displeases them.
They don’t take any delight in it.
But the Lord’s anger burns inside me.
I can no longer hold it in.
The Lord says to me, “Pour out my anger on the children in the street.
Pour it out on the young men who are gathered together.
Husband and wife alike will be caught in it.
So will those who are very old.
I will reach out my hand
against those who live in the land,”
announces the Lord.
“Then their houses will be turned over to others.
So will their fields and their wives.
Everyone wants to get richer and richer,
from the least important of them to the most important.
Prophets and priests alike
try to fool everyone they can.
They bandage the wounds of my people
as if they were not very deep.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say.
But there isn’t any peace.
Are they ashamed of their hateful actions?
No. They do not feel any shame at all.
They do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall like others who have already fallen.
They will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the Lord.
The Lord tells the people of Judah,
“Stand where the roads cross, and look around.
Ask where the old paths are.
Ask for the good path, and walk on it.
Then your hearts will find rest in me.
But you said, ‘We won’t walk on it.’
I appointed prophets to warn you. I said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpets!’
But you said, ‘We won’t listen.’
So pay attention, you nations.
You are witnesses for me.
Watch what will happen to my people.
Earth, pay attention.
I am going to bring trouble on them.
I will punish them because of the evil things they have done.
They have not listened to my words.
They have said no to my law.
What do I care about incense from the land of Sheba?
Why should I bother with sweet-smelling cane from a land far away?
I do not accept your burnt offerings.
Your sacrifices do not please me.”
So the Lord says,
“I will bring an army against the people of Judah.
Parents and children alike will trip and fall.
Neighbors and friends will die.”
The Lord says to Jerusalem,
“Look! An army is coming
from the land of the north.
I am stirring up a great nation.
Its army is coming from a land that is very far away.
Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are mean. They do not show any mercy at all.
They come riding in on their horses.
They sound like the roaring ocean.
They are lined up for battle.
They are marching out
to attack you, city of Zion.”
We have heard reports about them.
And our hands can’t help us.
We are suffering greatly.
It’s like the pain of a woman having a baby.
Don’t go out to the fields.
Don’t walk on the roads.
Our enemies have swords.
And there is terror on every side.
My people, put on the clothes of sadness.
Roll among the ashes.
Mourn with bitter weeping
just as you would mourn for an only son.
The one who is going to destroy us
will come suddenly.
The Lord says to me, “I have made you like one who tests metals.
My people are the ore.
I want you to watch them
and test the way they live.
All of them are used to disobeying me.
They go around telling lies about others.
They are like bronze mixed with iron.
All of them do very sinful things.
The fire is made very hot
so the lead will burn away.
But it is impossible to make these people pure.
Those who are evil are not removed.
They are like silver that is thrown away.
That is because I have not accepted them.”
Jeremiah 7:1-29
Worshiping Other Gods Is Worthless
A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord said, “Stand at the gate of my house. Announce my message to the people there. Say,
“ ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, all you people of Judah. You always come through these gates to worship the Lord. The God of Israel is speaking to you. He is the Lord who rules over all. He says, “Change the way you live and act. Then I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in lies. Do not say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord! This is the temple of the Lord! This is the temple of the Lord!’ You must really change the way you live and act. Treat one another fairly. Do not treat outsiders or widows badly in this place. Do not take advantage of children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. Do not worship other gods. That will only bring harm to you. If you obey me, I will let you live in this place. It is the land I gave your people of long ago. It was promised to them for ever and ever. But look! You are trusting in worthless lies.
“ ‘ “You continue to steal and commit murder. You commit adultery. You tell lies in court. You burn incense to Baal. You worship other gods you didn’t know before. Then you come and stand in front of me. You keep coming to this house where I have put my Name. You say, ‘We are safe.’ You think you are safe when you do so many things I hate. My Name is in this house. But you have made it a den for robbers! I have been watching you!” announces the Lord.
“ ‘ “Go now to the town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first made a home for my Name. See what I did to it because of the evil things my people Israel were doing. I spoke to you again and again,” announces the Lord. “I warned you while you were doing all these things. But you did not listen. I called out to you. But you did not answer. So what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house where my Name is. It is the temple you trust in. It is the place I gave to you and your people of long ago. But I will throw you out of my land. That is exactly what I did to the people of Ephraim. And they are your relatives.” ’
“Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. Do not beg me. I will not listen to you. Don’t you see what they are doing? They are worshiping other gods in the towns of Judah. They are offering sacrifices to them in the streets of Jerusalem. The children go out and gather wood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix the dough. They make flat cakes of bread to offer to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods. That makes me very angry. But am I the one they are hurting?” announces the Lord. “Aren’t they only harming themselves? They should be ashamed of it.”
So the Lord and King says, “I will pour out my burning anger on this place. It will strike people and animals alike. It will destroy the trees in the fields and the crops in your land. It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out.”
The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Go ahead! Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices. Eat the meat yourselves! When I brought your people out of Egypt, I spoke to them. But I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. I also gave them another command. I said, ‘Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.’ But they did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. They went backward and not forward. Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now. But your people of long ago did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.
“Jeremiah, when you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer. So say to them, ‘You are a nation that has not obeyed the Lord your God. You did not pay attention when you were corrected. Truth has died out. You do not tell the truth anymore.’ ”
The Lord says to the people of Jerusalem, “Cut off your hair. Throw it away. Sing a song of sadness on the bare hilltops. I am very angry with you. I have turned my back on you. I have deserted you.
