Jeremiah 6

People of Benjamin, gather together and run for safety out of Jerusalem! Blow the ram's horn in Tekoa, and light a signal fire over Beth-haccerem, because disaster is looming out of the north, a great destruction.

1O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

NoteBenjamin was one of the tribes of Israel, and Jerusalem sat on the edge of its territory, so the city's people could be addressed as Benjaminites. Tekoa and Beth-haccerem were towns a few miles south of Jerusalem, the direction of escape, away from an army coming from the north. The ram's horn (shofar) was the standard alarm signal, and a fire or smoke column on a hilltop passed warnings from town to town faster than a runner could. There is wordplay in the Hebrew that English cannot carry: the name Tekoa sounds like the verb for blowing a horn.

2I have compared the city of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman.

2I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

Note"Daughter of Zion" is a standard Hebrew way of speaking of a city and its inhabitants as a single woman. Zion was the hill Jerusalem stood on, and the name came to stand for the whole city. This verse is one of the more obscure lines in the book: the Hebrew can be read as "I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely woman" or as "I will destroy the daughter of Zion, the lovely and delicate one." Translations divide.

3Shepherds with their flocks will come against her. They will pitch their tents all around her, and each one will graze his own portion.

3The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

NoteEnemy kings and their armies are pictured as herdsmen bringing flocks to graze. Shepherds camped where the grass was, ate it down to nothing, and moved on; each commander is imagined staking out his own section of the land around Jerusalem to strip.

4The attackers say, "Get ready for war against her! Get up, and let us attack at noon." Then they say, "Too bad for us, the daylight is fading and the evening shadows are stretching out."

4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

Note"Prepare for war" is literally "consecrate war", armies opened a campaign with religious rites, so the phrase is a technical term for mobilizing. Noon was an odd hour to attack because of the heat; proposing it signals confidence. The speakers here are the attackers, impatient at losing the daylight.

5"Then get up, and let us attack by night and destroy her strong buildings."

5Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

6This is what the LORD of Armies has said: Cut down trees and pile up a ramp of dirt against Jerusalem's wall. This is the city that must be punished. There is nothing but oppression inside her.

6For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

Note"LORD of Armies" (traditionally "LORD of hosts") is a title meaning the LORD who commands armies, both earthly and heavenly. A siege ramp was a packed embankment of earth, timber and rubble built up against a city wall so troops and battering rams could reach the top; the surrounding trees were felled for the timber and to deny the defenders cover.

7As a spring keeps pushing out fresh water, so she keeps pouring out her evil. Violence and ruin are heard in her, and sickness and wounds are in front of me all the time.

7As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

8Take the warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you. I will make you empty, a land where no one lives.

8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

9This is what the LORD of Armies says: They will strip what is left of Israel as clean as a picked grapevine. Pass your hand over the branches again, the way someone gathering grapes does.

9Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

NoteGleaning was going back over a harvested field or vine to pick up whatever was missed; Israelite law reserved those leftovers for the poor. The image is reversed here: instead of leaving something behind, the invaders are told to pass over the vine a second time and take even the last grapes.

10Who can I speak to? Who can I warn, so that they will listen? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD offends them, and they take no pleasure in it.

10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

NoteThe Hebrew says their ear is "uncircumcised." Circumcision was the physical mark of belonging to Israel's covenant, and the word was extended to mean unfit or unreceptive, an uncircumcised ear is one that cannot take anything in. The same phrase is used elsewhere of lips and of the heart.

11So I am full of the LORD's anger, and I am worn out from holding it in. "Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together. Husband and wife alike will be captured, the old along with the very old."

11Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

12"Their houses will be handed over to others, along with their fields and their wives, because I will reach out my hand against the people who live in this land," says the LORD.

12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.

13"From the least important of them to the greatest, every one of them is greedy for gain. From prophet to priest, every one of them deals dishonestly."

13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

NoteProphets and priests were the two branches of Israel's religious leadership: priests ran the temple and its sacrifices and taught the law, prophets delivered messages believed to come from God. Naming both is a way of saying the corruption runs through the whole establishment, as "least to greatest" covers the whole society.

14"They treat the wound of my people as if it were nothing, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace at all."

14They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

NoteThe image is of a doctor putting a dressing over a deep wound without cleaning it. "Peace" translates shalom, which means wholeness and well-being generally, not only the absence of fighting; "Peace, peace" was an ordinary reassurance, roughly "all is well, all is well."

15"Were they ashamed when they did these disgusting things? No, they were not ashamed at all. They did not even know how to blush. So they will fall along with everyone else who falls. When I punish them, they will be brought down," says the LORD.

15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

16This is what the LORD says: Stand where the roads meet and look. Ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it."

16Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

NoteThe picture is a traveler stopping where roads fork and asking passers-by which is the right road, "ancient paths" means the long-established route rather than a new one. "Souls" here translates a Hebrew word meaning a person's life or self, not an immaterial part of them; "rest for your souls" is closer to "you will find yourselves at rest."

17I also set watchmen over you and said, "Listen for the sound of the ram's horn." But they said, "We will not listen."

17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

NoteWatchmen were sentries posted on city walls or towers who sounded the ram's horn when they saw danger approaching. Prophets were regularly described in those terms, stationed to give warning, with no power to compel anyone to act on it.

18So listen, you nations. And you who are gathered together, learn what is going to happen to them.

18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is difficult and the second line is uncertain; the word rendered "you who are gathered together" may mean an assembly, a community, or possibly something else entirely. Translations vary widely here.

19Listen, earth! I am bringing disaster on this people. It is the fruit of their own plans, because they have not paid attention to my words, and they have rejected my teaching.

19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

Note"Teaching" translates torah, which covers instruction of any kind (a parent's, a teacher's, a priest's) as well as formal law. Rendering it only as "law" narrows it.

20What good to me is incense brought from Sheba, or sweet-smelling cane from a faraway country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices do not please me.

20To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

NoteSheba was a wealthy kingdom in southwest Arabia, the far end of the incense trade route; frankincense and aromatic cane were expensive imports burned in worship and mixed into anointing oil. A burnt offering was an animal sacrifice burned whole on the altar rather than shared as a meal, among the costliest offerings. The point is the expense of what is being brought.

21So this is what the LORD says: I am going to put stumbling blocks in front of this people. Fathers and sons together will trip over them, and neighbor and friend will die.

21Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

22This is what the LORD says: Look, a people is coming from the land in the north. A great nation is being stirred up from the far ends of the earth.

22Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

Note"The north" is where invading armies always appeared from, whatever their actual homeland: the desert made a direct approach from the east impossible, so forces out of Mesopotamia followed the Euphrates up and came down into Israel from above.

23They take up bow and spear. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their sound roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like soldiers ready to fight against you, city of Zion.

23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

24We have heard the news about them, and our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, and pain like that of a woman giving birth.

24We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

NoteHands going slack or dropping is a stock Hebrew idiom for the loss of strength and nerve, the body giving out before the fight starts.

25Do not go out into the fields, and do not walk on the road, because the enemy has a sword, and there is terror on every side.

25Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.

26My people, put on rough cloth to show your grief, and roll yourselves in ashes. Mourn with bitter crying, as you would for an only son, because the destroyer will come on us suddenly.

26O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

NoteSackcloth was coarse, scratchy goat-hair cloth worn next to the skin in grief, and sitting or rolling in ashes went with it as a public sign of mourning. The death of an only son was the standard comparison for the worst grief imaginable, since it meant not just the loss of a child but the end of the family line.

27I have set you among my people as a tester of metal and a fortress, so that you may watch them and test the way they live.

27I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

NoteThe Hebrew word behind "tester" is ambiguous, which is why older translations read "tower." It closely resembles both the word for an assayer, someone who tests metal for purity, and the word for a fortified tower. The metalworking sense fits what follows in the next verses, but the pun is probably deliberate.

28They are all stubborn rebels, going around telling lies about others. They are bronze and iron. Every one of them ruins what he touches.

28They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

NoteBronze and iron were the ordinary base metals, useful, but what an assayer finds when there is no silver in the ore. The comparison continues through the end of the chapter.

29The bellows blow hard, and the fire burns away the lead. But the refiner works for nothing, because the wicked are not separated out.

29The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

NoteThis describes refining silver by cupellation: crushed ore was heated with lead in a furnace and bellows drove the fire hot enough for the lead to oxidize and carry off the impurities, leaving pure silver. If nothing pure is left when the lead burns away, the ore was worthless and the whole effort is wasted.

30People will call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.

30Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.

Note"Rejected silver" is the assayer's verdict on metal that failed the test in the furnace: it looked like silver but did not come through refining, so it is thrown out.