Jeremiah 6  New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁹ Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Glean^[c] thoroughly as a vine
    the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again
    over its branches.

¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and give warning,
    that they may hear?
See, their ears are closed,^[d]
    they cannot listen.
The word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
    they take no pleasure in it.
¹¹ But I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
    I am weary of holding it in.

Pour it out on the children in the street,
    and on the gatherings of young men as well;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
    the old folk and the very aged.
¹² Their houses shall be turned over to others,
    their fields and wives together;
for I will stretch out my hand
    against the inhabitants of the land,
says the Lord.

¹³ For from the least to the greatest of them,
    everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
    everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴ They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
    saying, “Peace, peace,”
    when there is no peace.
¹⁵ They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
    yet they were not ashamed,
    they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
    at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the Lord.
¹⁶ Thus says the Lord:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
    and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
    and find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
¹⁷ Also I raised up sentinels for you:
    “Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!”
But they said, “We will not give heed.”
¹⁸ Therefore hear, O nations,
    and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
¹⁹ Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people,
    the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not given heed to my words;
    and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.
²⁰ Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
    or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
    nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
²¹ Therefore thus says the Lord:
See, I am laying before this people
    stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
parents and children together,
    neighbor and friend shall perish.

²² Thus says the Lord:
See, a people is coming from the land of the north,
    a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
²³ They grasp the bow and the javelin,
    they are cruel and have no mercy,
    their sound is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
    equipped like a warrior for battle,
    against you, O daughter Zion!

²⁴ “We have heard news of them,
    our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
    pain as of a woman in labor.
²⁵ Do not go out into the field,
    or walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
    terror is on every side.”

²⁶ O my poor people, put on sackcloth,
    and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only child,
    most bitter lamentation:
for suddenly the destroyer
    will come upon us.

²⁷ I have made you a tester and a refiner^[e] among my people
    so that you may know and test their ways.
²⁸ They are all stubbornly rebellious,
    going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron,
    all of them act corruptly.
²⁹ The bellows blow fiercely,
    the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
    for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰ They are called “rejected silver,”
    for the Lord has rejected them.