Online Bible

Destruction of Jerusalem Impending

“Run for safety, you children of ^aBenjamin,Out of the midst of Jerusalem!And blow a trumpet in Tekoa in JudahAnd raise a signal-fire in ^bBeth-haccherem near Jerusalem;For evil is looking down with eager anticipation from the ^cnorth,And great destruction.2 “I will destroy ^athe Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) , the lovely and ^bdelicate one so like a luxurious pasture.3 “^aShepherds with their flocks will come against her;They will ^bpitch their tents all around her;They will pasture, each one in his place eating up all her rich grasses.4 “They shout, ‘^aPrepare for war against her;Arise, let us take her by surprise and attack her at ^bnoon.But alas, the daylight pales,The evening shadows grow long.5 ‘Arise, let us awaken to attack her at nightAnd ^adestroy her fortified palaces!’”

6 For the LORD of hosts has said,“^aCut down her treesAnd build a ^bsiege mound against Jerusalem.This is the city which must be punished;There is nothing but ^coppression inside her walls.

7 “^aAs a fountain springs up and pours out its fresh waters,So she continually pours out her fresh wickedness.^bViolence and destruction are heard inside her walls;^cSickness and wounds are always before Me.8 “^aBe wise and be warned, O Jerusalem,Or ^bI will be alienated from you,And make you a desolation,An uninhabited land.”

9 Thus says the LORD of hosts,“They will ^athoroughly gather like fruit on a vine what is ^bleft of Israel;Pass your hand over the vine again and again Babylon, tool of destruction like a grape gatherer,Over the branches stripping the tendrils off the vine.”10 To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ^aears are ¹closed absolutely deaf to GodAnd they cannot listen.Behold, ^bthe word of the LORD has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them;They have no delight in it. Acts 7:5111 But I am ^afull of the wrath (judgment) of the LORD;I am ^btired of restraining it.“I will ^cpour it out on the children in the streetAnd on the young men gathered together;For both the husband and wife shall be taken,The aged and the very old though full of days they are not exempt from judgment.12 “Their ^ahouses shall be turned over to others,Their fields and their wives together;For I will ^bstretch out My handAgainst the inhabitants of the land,” says the LORD.13 “For ^afrom the least of them even to the greatest of them,Everyone is ^bgreedy for unfair gain;And from the prophet even to the priestEveryone deals deceitfully.14 “They have ^atreated superficially the bloody broken wound of My people,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’When there is no peace.15 “Were they ^aashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?No, they were not at all ashamed;They did not even know how to blush at their idolatry.Therefore they will fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish themThey will be overthrown,” says the LORD.

16 Thus says the LORD,“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ^aancient paths,Where the good way is; then walk in it,And ^byou will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’ Matt 11:2917 “I have set ^awatchmen (prophets) over you,Saying, ‘Listen and pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’But they said, ‘We will not listen.’18 “Therefore hear, O Gentile nations,And see, O congregation, what vengeful act is to be done to them.19 “^aHear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,The ^bfruit of their schemes,Because they have not listened and paid attention to My words,And as for My law, they have ^crejected it also.20 “^aFor what purpose does ^bfrankincense come to Me from ¹ShebaAnd the ^csweet cane from a distant land?^dYour burnt offerings are not acceptableAnd your sacrifices are not sweet and pleasing to Me.”

21 Therefore, thus says the LORD,“Behold, ^aI am laying stumbling blocks before this people.The ^bfathers and the sons togetherWill stumble against them;The neighbor and his friend will perish.”

The Enemy from the North

22 Thus says the LORD,“Behold, ^aa people is coming from the north country,And a great nation shall be stirred up and put into action from the ^bremote parts of the earth.23 “They seize ^abow and spear;They are ^bcruel and inhuman and have no mercy.Their voice sounds like the ^croaring sea;They ride in formation on horses,Arrayed as a man for battleAgainst you, O Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem) !”24 We have ^aheard the report of it;Our hands become limp and helpless.^bAnguish has gripped us,Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.25 ^aDo not go out into the field^bNor walk on the road,For the enemy is armed with the sword;^cTerror is on every side.26 O daughter of my people says Jeremiah,^aClothe yourself in sackcloth and ^bwallow in ashes;^cMourn aloud as for an only son,A most bitter cry of sorrow and regret,For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us on both prophet and people.

27 “I the LORD have ^aset you as an assayer O Jeremiah and as a tester of the ore of My people,That you may know and analyze their acts.”28 They are all the worst kind of stiff-necked, godless rebels,^aGoing around spreading slander.They are not gold and silver ore, but ^bbronze and iron;They are all corrupt.29 The bellows blow fiercely,The lead is consumed by the fire;In vain they continue refining,But the ^awicked are not separated and removed.30 ^aThey call them rejected silver only dross, without value,Because the ^bLORD has rejected them.