Jeremiah 5-6

Good News Translation

The Sin of Jerusalem

The Lord Rejects Israel

¹² The Lord's people have denied him and have said, “He won't really do anything.^[a] We won't have hard times; we won't have war or famine.” ^13-14 They have said that the prophets are nothing but windbags and that they have no message from the Lord. The Lord God Almighty said to me, “Jeremiah, because these people have said such things, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up.”

¹⁵ People of Israel, the Lord is bringing a nation from far away to attack you. It is a strong and ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. ¹⁶ Their archers are mighty soldiers who kill without mercy. ¹⁷ They will devour your crops and your food; they will kill your sons and your daughters. They will slaughter your flocks and your herds and destroy your vines and fig trees. The fortified cities in which you trust will be destroyed by their army.

¹⁸ The Lord says, “Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people. ¹⁹ When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs.”

God Warns His People

²⁰ The Lord says, “Tell the descendants of Jacob, tell the people of Judah: ^21 (A)Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. ^22 (B)I am the Lord; why don't you fear me? Why don't you tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent boundary that it cannot cross. The sea may toss, but it cannot go beyond it; the waves may roar, but they cannot break through. ²³ But you people! You are stubborn and rebellious; you have turned aside and left me. ²⁴ You never thought to honor me, even though I send the autumn rains and the spring rains and give you the harvest season each year. ²⁵ Instead, your sins have kept these good things from you.

²⁶ “Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who lay nets to catch birds,^[b] but they have set their traps to catch people. ²⁷ Just as a hunter fills a cage with birds, they have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich, ²⁸ why they are fat and well fed. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They do not give orphans their rights or show justice to the oppressed.

²⁹ “But I, the Lord, will punish them for these things; I will take revenge on this nation. ³⁰ A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: ³¹ prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?”

Jerusalem Is Surrounded by Enemies

6 People of Benjamin, run for safety! Escape from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and build a signal fire in Beth Haccherem. Disaster and destruction are about to come from the north. ² The city of Zion is beautiful, but it will be destroyed; ³ kings will camp there with their armies. They will pitch their tents around the city, and each of them will camp wherever they want. ⁴ They will say, “Prepare to attack Jerusalem! Get ready! We'll attack at noon!” But then they will say, “It's too late, the day is almost over, and the evening shadows are growing long. ⁵ We'll attack by night; we'll destroy the city's fortresses.”

⁶ The Lord Almighty has ordered these kings to cut down trees and build mounds in order to besiege Jerusalem. He has said, “I will punish this city because it is full of oppression. ⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh, so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh. I hear violence and destruction in the city; sickness and wounds are all I see. ⁸ People of Jerusalem, let these troubles be a warning to you, or else I will abandon you; I will turn your city into a desert, a place where no one lives.”

Rebellious Israel

⁹ The Lord Almighty said to me, “Israel will be stripped clean like a vineyard from which every grape has been picked. So you must rescue everyone you can while there is still time.”

¹⁰ I answered, “Who would listen to me if I spoke to them and warned them? They are stubborn and refuse to listen to your message; they laugh at what you tell me to say. ¹¹ Your anger against them burns in me too, Lord, and I can't hold it in any longer.”

Then the Lord said to me, “Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared. ¹² Their houses will be given to others, and so will their fields and their wives. I am going to punish the people of this land. ¹³ Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat the people. ^14 (C)They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. ‘All is well,’ they say, when all is not well. ^15 (D)Were they ashamed because they did these disgusting things? No, they were not at all ashamed; they don't even know how to blush. And so they will fall as others have fallen; when I punish them, that will be the end of them. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Israel Rejects God's Way

¹⁶ The Lord said to his people, “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace.”

But they said, “No, we will not!” ¹⁷ Then the Lord appointed sentries to listen for the trumpet's warning. But they said, “We will not listen.”

¹⁸ So the Lord said, “Listen, you nations, and learn what is going to happen to my people. ¹⁹ Listen, earth! As punishment for all their schemes I am bringing ruin on these people, because they have rejected my teaching and have not obeyed my words. ²⁰ What do I care about the incense they bring me from Sheba, or the spices from a distant land? I will not accept their offerings or be pleased with their sacrifices. ²¹ And so I will make these people stumble and fall. Parents and children will die, and so will friends and neighbors.”

Invasion from the North

²² The Lord says, “People are coming from a country in the north; a mighty nation far away is preparing for war. ²³ They have taken up their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Jerusalem.”

²⁴ “We have heard the news,” say the people of Jerusalem, “and our hands hang limp; we are seized by anguish and pain like a woman in labor. ²⁵ We don't dare go to the countryside or walk on the roads, because our enemies are armed and terror is all around us.”

²⁶ The Lord says to his people, “Put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter tears as you would for an only child, because the one who comes to destroy you will suddenly attack. ²⁷ Jeremiah, test my people, as you would test metal, and find out what they are like. ²⁸ They are all stubborn rebels, hard as bronze and iron. They are all corrupt, going around and spreading gossip. ²⁹ The furnace burns fiercely, but the waste metals do not melt and run off. It is useless to go on refining my people, because those who are evil are not taken away. ³⁰ They will be called worthless dross, because I, the Lord, have rejected them.”