Jeremiah 6:16-30

Complete Jewish Bible

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask about the ancient paths,
‘Which one is the good way?’
Take it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not take it.’
¹⁷ I appointed sentinels to direct them:
‘Listen for the sound of the shofar.’
But they said, ‘We will not listen.’
¹⁸ So hear, you nations; know, you assembly,
what there is against them.
¹⁹ Hear, oh earth! I am going
to bring disaster on this people;
it is the consequence
of their own way of thinking;
for they pay no attention to my words;
and as for my Torah, they reject it.
²⁰ What do I care about incense from Sh’va
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are unacceptable,
your sacrifices don’t please me.”

“I will put obstacles in the way of this people
that they will stumble over —
fathers and sons, neighbors and friends,
all will perish together.”

“A people is coming from the land of the north,
a great nation will be aroused from the ends of the earth.
²³ They will take hold of bow and spear;
they are cruel; they have no compassion:
their noise as they ride on horses
is like the roaring sea;
and they are equipped for battle
against you, daughter of Tziyon.
²⁴ ‘We have heard the news,
and our hands fall limp;
anguish has seized us,
pain like a mother’s in childbirth.’”

²⁵ Don’t go into the countryside,
don’t walk out on the road;
for the sword of the enemy is spreading
terror in every direction.

²⁶ Daughter of my people,
put on sackcloth, roll in ashes,
mourn as if for an only son,
wail most bitterly;
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.

²⁷ “I have made you a refiner and tester of my people,
to know and test how they behave.
²⁸ All of them are total rebels,
spreading slanderous gossip;
they are bronze and iron, [inferior metals,]
all of them corrupt.
²⁹ The bellows blast away;
and though the lead is consumed by the fire,
in vain has the smelter refined,
for the wicked have not been separated.
³⁰ They are called ‘rejected silver,’
because Adonai has rejected them.”