Jeremiah 1 - 6 — Legacy Standard Bible

Yahweh Sends Jeremiah the Prophet

1The words of ^aJeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in ^bAnathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to whom the word of ¹Yahweh came in the days of ^aJosiah the son of ^bAmon, king of Judah, in the ^cthirteenth year of his reign. ³And it came in the days of ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the end of the eleventh year of ^bZedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

⁴Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

⁵“Before I ^aformed you in the ¹innermost parts I knew you,And ^bbefore you came out from the womb I set you apart;I have ^cgiven you as a prophet to the nations.”⁶Then ^aI said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh!Behold, I do not know how to speakBecause ^bI am a youth.”⁷But Yahweh said to me,“Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’^aBecause everywhere I send you, you shall go,And ^ball that I command you, you shall speak.⁸“^aDo not be afraid of them,For ^bI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

⁹Then Yahweh sent forth His hand and ^atouched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have ^bput My words in your mouth.

¹⁰“See, ^aI have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,^bTo uproot and to tear down,To cause to perish and to pull down,^cTo build and to plant.”

The Almond Rod and Boiling Pot

¹¹Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, ^aJeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an ¹almond tree.” ¹²Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well, for ^aI am ¹watching over My word to do it.”

¹³The word of Yahweh came to me a second time saying, “^aWhat do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling ^bpot, facing away from the north.” ¹⁴Then Yahweh said to me, “^aFrom the north the evil ¹will break open on all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵“For, behold, I am calling ^aall the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares Yahweh; “and they will come, and each one of them will ^bput his throne at the opening of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls round about and against all the ^ccities of Judah. ¹⁶“I will speak My judgments on them concerning all their evil, whereby they have ^aforsaken Me and have ^bburned incense to other gods and worshiped the ^cworks of their own hands. ¹⁷“Now, ^agird up your loins and arise and speak to them all which I command you. ^bDo not be dismayed before them, lest I dismay you before them. ¹⁸“Now behold, I have given you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests, and to the people of the land. ¹⁹“And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for ^aI am with you to deliver you,” declares Yahweh.

Judah Transgresses Against Yahweh

2Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Go and ^acall out in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “I remember concerning you the ^blovingkindness of your youth,The love of your betrothals,^cYour walking after Me in the wilderness,Through a land not sown.

³“Israel was ^aholy to Yahweh,The ^bfirst of His produce.^cAll who ate of it became guilty;Evil came upon them,” declares Yahweh.’”

⁴Hear the word of Yahweh, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says Yahweh, “^aWhat injustice did your fathers find in Me,That they went far from MeAnd walked after ^bvanity and became vain?

⁶“They did not say, ‘Where is YahwehWho ^abrought us up out of the land of Egypt,Who ^bled us through the wilderness,Through a land of deserts and of pits,Through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,Through a land that no one crossedAnd where no man inhabited?’⁷“I brought you into the ^afruitful landTo eat its fruit and its good things.But you came and ^bdefiled My land,And My inheritance you made an abomination.⁸“The ^apriests did not say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’And those who handle the law ^bdid not know Me;The ¹shepherds also transgressed against Me,And the ^cprophets prophesied by BaalAnd walked after ^dthings that did not profit.⁹“Therefore I will yet ^acontend with you,” declares Yahweh,“And with your sons’ sons I will contend.¹⁰“For ^across to the coastlands of ¹Kittim and see,And send to ^bKedar and perceive closelyAnd see if there has been such a thing as this!¹¹“Has a nation changed godsThough ^athey were not gods?But My people have ^bchanged their gloryFor that which does not profit.¹²“Be appalled, ^aO heavens, at this,And be horribly afraid, be very devastated,” declares Yahweh.¹³“For My people have done two evils:They have forsaken Me,The ^afountain of living waters,To hew for themselves ^bcisterns,Broken cisternsThat can hold no water.¹⁴“Is Israel ^aa slave? Or is he a homeborn slave?Why has he become plunder?¹⁵“The young ^alions have roared at him;They have given forth their voice.And they have ^bmade his land a desolation;His cities have been turned into ruin, without inhabitant.¹⁶“Also the ¹men of ^aMemphis and TahpanhesHave ²shaved the ^btop of your head.¹⁷“Have you not ^adone this to yourselfBy your forsaking Yahweh your GodWhen He ^bled you in the way?¹⁸“But now what are you doing ^aon the road to Egypt,To drink the waters of the ¹^,^bNile?Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,To drink the waters of the ²River?¹⁹“^aYour own evil will chastise you,And your ^bacts of faithlessness will reprove you;Know therefore and see that it is evil and ^cbitterFor you to forsake Yahweh your God,And ^dthe dread of Me is not in you,” declares Lord Yahweh of hosts.²⁰“For long ago ¹^,^aI broke your yokeAnd tore off your bonds;But you said, ‘I will not serve!’For on every ^bhigh hillAnd under every green treeYou have lain down as a harlot.²¹“Yet I ^aplanted you a choice vine,A completely true seed.How then have you turned yourself before MeInto the ^bdegenerate shoots of a foreign vine?²²“Although you ^awash yourself with lyeAnd ¹use much soap,The ^bstain of your iniquity is before Me,” declares Lord Yahweh.²³“^aHow can you say, ‘I am not defiled;I have not walked after the ^bBaals’?Look at your way in the ^cvalley!Know what you have done!You are a swift young camel ^dentangling her ways,²⁴A ^awild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,That sniffs the wind in her passion.In the time of her ¹heat who can turn her away?All who seek her will not become weary;In her month they will find her.²⁵“Keep your feet from being barefootAnd your throat from thirst;But you said, ‘^aIt is ¹hopeless!No! For I have ^bloved strangers,And after them I will walk.’²⁶“As the ^athief is shamed when he is found,So the house of Israel is shamed;They, their kings, their princes,And their priests and their prophets,²⁷Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’For they have turned their ^aback to MeAnd not their face;But in the ^btime when their evil comes they will say,‘Arise and save us.’²⁸“But where are your ^agodsWhich you made for yourself?Let them arise, if they can ^bsave youIn the time when your evil comes;For ^caccording to the number of your citiesAre your gods, O Judah.²⁹“Why do you contend with Me?You have ^aall transgressed against Me,” declares Yahweh.³⁰“^aIn vain I have struck your sons;They received no discipline.Your ^bsword has devoured your prophetsLike a destroying lion.³¹“O generation, ¹behold the word of Yahweh.Have I been a wilderness to IsraelOr a ^aland of thick darkness?Why do My people say, ‘^bWe are free to roam;We will no longer come to You’?³²“Can a virgin forget her ornaments,Or a bride her attire?Yet My people have ^aforgotten MeDays without number.³³“How well you prepare your wayTo seek love!Therefore even ¹the wicked womenYou have taught your ways.³⁴“Also on your skirts is foundThe ^alifeblood of the innocent needy;You did not find them ^bbreaking in.But in spite of all these things,³⁵Yet you said, ‘I am innocent;Surely His anger is turned away from me.’Behold, I will ^aenter into judgment with youBecause you ^bsay, ‘I have not sinned.’³⁶“Why do you ^adespise Him so muchIn changing your way?Also, ^byou will be put to shame by EgyptAs you were put to shame by ^cAssyria.³⁷“From this place also you will go outWith ^ayour hands on your head;For Yahweh has rejected ^bthose in whom you trust,And you will not succeed with them.”

The Polluted Land

3God ¹says, “^aIf a husband divorces his wifeAnd she goes from himAnd belongs to another man,Will he still return to her?Will not that land be completely ²polluted?But you ^bare a harlot with many ³lovers;Yet you ^cturn to Me,” declares Yahweh.²“Lift up your eyes to the ^abare heights and see;Where have you not been ravished?By the roads you have ^bsat for themLike ¹an Arab in the wilderness,And you have ^cpolluted a landWith your harlotry and with your evil.³“Therefore the ^ashowers have been withheld,And the ¹late rain has not ²come.Yet you had a ^bharlot’s forehead;You refused to feel dishonor.⁴“Have you not just now called to Me,‘^aMy Father, You are the ¹^,^bclose companion of my ^cyouth?⁵‘^aWill He be angry forever?Will He keep it to the end?’Behold, you have spokenAnd have done evil things,And you have ¹had your way.”

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

⁶Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She ^awent up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. ⁷“^aI said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her ^btreacherous sister Judah saw it. ⁸“And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ^agiven her a certificate of divorce, yet her ^btreacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. ⁹“So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she ^apolluted the land and committed adultery with ^bstones and trees. ¹⁰“Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in ^alying,” declares Yahweh.

¹¹And Yahweh said to me, “^aFaithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. ¹²“Go and call out these words toward the north and say, ‘¹^,^aReturn, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh;‘^bI will not ²look upon you in anger.For I am ^cOne of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh;‘I will not be angry forever.

¹³‘Only ¹^,^aacknowledge your iniquity,That you have transgressed against Yahweh your GodAnd have ^bscattered your ways of harlotry to the strangers ^cunder every green tree,And you have not listened to My voice,’ declares Yahweh.¹⁴‘¹Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh;‘For I am a ^amaster to you,And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,And ^bI will bring you to Zion.’

¹⁵“Then I will give you ^ashepherds after My own heart, who will ¹^,^bshepherd you on knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶“It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and fruitful in the land,” declares Yahweh, “they will ^ano longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come upon the heart, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. ¹⁷“At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The ^aThrone of Yahweh,’ and ^ball the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the ^cname of Yahweh; nor will they ^dwalk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. ¹⁸“^aIn those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together ^bfrom the land of the north to the ^cland that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹“Then I said, ‘How I would set you among ¹My sonsAnd give you a pleasant land,The most ^abeautiful inheritance of the nations!’And I said, ‘You shall call Me, ^b“My Father,”And not turn away from following Me.’

²⁰“Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her ¹lover,So you have ^adealt treacherously with Me,O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.²¹A voice is heard on the ^abare heights,The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;Because they have perverted their way,They have ^bforgotten Yahweh their God.²²¹“Return, O faithless sons;^aI will heal your faithlessness.”“Behold, we come to You,For You are Yahweh our God.²³“Surely, ^athe hills are a lie,A tumult on the mountains.Surely in ^bYahweh our GodIs the salvation of Israel.

²⁴“But ^athe shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵“Let us lie down in our ^ashame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, ^bfrom our youth even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.”

Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him

4“If you will ^areturn, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,“Then you should return to Me.And ^bif you will put away your detested things from My presenceAnd will not waver²And you will ^aswear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’^bIn truth, in justice, and in righteousness;Then the ^cnations will ¹be blessed in Him,And ^din Him they will boast.”

³For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “¹^,^aBreak up your fallow ground,And ^bdo not sow among thorns.

⁴“^aCircumcise yourselves to YahwehAnd remove the foreskins of your heart,Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,Lest My ^bwrath go forth like fireAnd burn with ^cnone to quench itBecause of the evil of your deeds.”

Evil from the North

⁵Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,“^aBlow the trumpet in the land;Call out, make your voice full, and say,‘^bGather yourselves, and let us goInto the fortified cities.’⁶“Lift up a ^astandard toward Zion!Seek safety, do not stand still,For I am bringing ^bevil from the north,And great destruction.⁷“A ^alion has gone up from his thicket,And a ^bdestroyer of nations has set out;He has gone out from his placeTo ^cmake your land a desolation.Your cities will be turned into ruinsWithout inhabitant.⁸“For this, ^aI gird myself with sackcloth,Lament and wail;For the ^bburning anger of YahwehHas not turned back from us.”

⁹“It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the ^aheart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the ^bprophets will be astonished.”

¹⁰Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly ^adeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘^bYou will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the ¹throat.”

¹¹In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A ¹^,^ascorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, ¹²a wind too full for these things—will come ¹for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.

¹³“Behold, he ^agoes up like clouds,And his ^bchariots like the whirlwind;His horses are ^cswifter than eagles.Woe to us, for ^dwe are devastated!”¹⁴Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,That you may be saved.How long will your ^awicked thoughtsLodge within you?¹⁵For a voice declares from ^aDan,And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.¹⁶“Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’Make it heard over Jerusalem,‘Besiegers come from a ^afar country,And ^bgive forth their voices against the cities of Judah.¹⁷‘Like watchmen of a field they are ^aagainst her round aboutBecause she has ^brebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.¹⁸“Your ^aways and your deedsHave done these things to you.This is your evil. How ^bbitter!How it has touched your heart!”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

¹⁹^aMy ¹soul, my ²soul! I am in anguish! ³Oh, my heart!My ^bheart is pounding in me;I cannot be silentBecause ⁴you have heard, O my soul,The ^csound of the trumpet,The shout of war.²⁰^aDestruction upon destruction is called out,For the ^bwhole land is devastated;Suddenly my ^ctents are devastated,My curtains in an instant.²¹How long must I see the standardAnd hear the sound of the trumpet?²²“^aFor My people are ignorant fools,They know Me not;They are simpleminded childrenAnd have no understanding.They are wise to ^bdo evil,But to do good they do not know.”²³I saw on the earth, and behold, it was ¹^,^aformless and void;And to the heavens, and they had no light.²⁴I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were ^aquaking,And all the hills ¹moved to and fro.²⁵I saw, and behold, there was no man,And all the ^abirds of the sky had fled.²⁶I saw, and behold, ¹the ^afruitful orchard was a wilderness,And all its cities were torn downBefore Yahweh, before His burning anger.

²⁷For thus says Yahweh, “The ^awhole land shall be a desolation,Yet I will ^bnot execute a complete destruction.

²⁸“For this the ^aearth shall mournAnd the ^bheavens above be darkBecause I have ^cspoken; I have purposed,And I will not ¹relent, nor will I turn from it.”²⁹At the sound of the horseman and bowman ^aevery city flees;They ^bgo into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;^cEvery city is forsaken,And no man inhabits them.³⁰And you, O devastated one, ^awhat will you do?Although you dress in scarlet,Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,Although you ^benlarge your eyes with paint,In vain you make yourself beautiful.Your ¹^,^clovers despise you;They seek your life.³¹For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,The sound of the daughter of Zion ^agasping for breath,^bStretching out her ¹hands, saying,“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”

Jerusalem Refuses to Repent

5“^aRoam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,And see now and know,And seek in her open squares,If you can ^bfind a man,^cIf there is one who does justice, who seeks faithfulness,Then I will pardon her.²“And ^aif they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’Then they swear to a lie.”³O Yahweh, do not ^aYour eyes look for faithfulness?You have ^bstruck them,But they did not ¹weaken;You have consumed them,But they ^crefused to receive discipline.They have ^dmade their faces stronger than rock;They have refused to ²repent.⁴Then I said, “They are only the poor;They are foolish;For they ^ado not know the way of YahwehOr the legal judgment of their God.⁵“Let me go to the greatAnd let me speak to them,For ^athey know the way of YahwehAnd the legal judgment of their God.”But they too, altogether, have ^bbroken the yokeAnd torn apart the bonds.⁶Therefore ^aa lion from the forest will strike them down;A ^bwolf of the deserts will devastate them;A ^cleopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them will be torn in piecesBecause their ^dtransgressions are many;Their acts of faithlessness are mighty.⁷“Why should I pardon you?Your sons have forsaken MeAnd ^asworn by those who are ^bnot gods.I had satisfied them to the full,Then they ^ccommitted adulteryAnd trooped to the harlot’s house.⁸“They were well-fed lusty horses,Each one neighing after his ^aneighbor’s wife.⁹“Shall I not punish ¹these people,” declares Yahweh,“And on a nation such as this^aShall I not avenge Myself?¹⁰“Go up through her vine rows and make them a ruin,But do not make a complete destruction;Remove her branches,For they are not Yahweh’s.¹¹“For the ^ahouse of Israel and the house of JudahHave dealt very treacherously with Me,” declares Yahweh.¹²They have ^adealt falsely about YahwehAnd said, “¹^,^bNot He;Calamity will ^cnot come on us,And we ^dwill not see sword or famine.¹³“The ^aprophets are as wind,And the word is not in them.Thus it will be done to them!”

A Stubborn and Rebellious People

¹⁴Therefore, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, “Because you have spoken this word,Behold, I am ^amaking My words in your mouth fireAnd this people wood, and it will devour them.

¹⁵“Behold, I am ^abringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.“It is an enduring nation;It is an ancient nation,A nation whose ^btongue you do not know,Nor can you ¹understand what they say.¹⁶“Their ^aquiver is like an ^bopen grave;All of them are mighty men.¹⁷“They will ^adevour your harvest and your food;They will devour your sons and your daughters;They will devour your flocks and your herds;They will devour your ^bvines and your fig trees;They will demolish with the sword your ^cfortified cities in which you trust.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days,” declares Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. ¹⁹“It shall come about ^awhen ¹they say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all these things to us?’ then you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will ^bserve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰“Declare this in the house of JacobAnd cause it to be heard in Judah, saying,²¹‘Now hear this, O people who are simpleminded fools and without a heart of wisdom,Who have ^aeyes but do not see,Who have ears but do not hear.²²‘Do you not ^afear Me?’ declares Yahweh.‘Do you not tremble in My presence?For I have ^bplaced the sand as a boundary for the sea,A perpetual statute, so it cannot cross over it.Though the waves toss, yet they cannot prevail;Though they roar, yet they cannot cross over it.²³‘But this people has a ^astubborn and rebellious heart;They have turned aside and gone away.²⁴‘They do not say in their heart,“Let us now fear Yahweh our God,Who ^agives rain in its season,Both ^bthe ¹early rain and the ²late rain,Who keeps for usThe ^cappointed weeks of the harvest.”²⁵‘Your ^ainiquities have turned these away,And your sins have withheld good from you.²⁶‘For wicked men are found among My people;They ^awatch like fowlers ¹lying in wait;They set a ²trap;They catch men.²⁷‘Like a cage full of birds,So their houses are full of ^adeceit;Therefore they have become great and rich.²⁸‘They are ^afat, they are sleek;They also ¹excel in deeds of evil;They do not plead the cause,The cause of the ²^,^borphan, that they may succeed;And they do not ³render justice for the poor.²⁹‘^aShall I not punish ¹these people?’ declares Yahweh,‘On a nation such as thisShall I not avenge Myself?’³⁰“A horrible and ^aappalling thingHas happened in the land:³¹The ^aprophets prophesy with lying,And the priests have dominion ¹by their own hand;And My people ^blove it so!But what will you do at the end of it?

Yahweh Disciplines Israel

6“Flee for safety, O sons of ^aBenjamin,From the midst of Jerusalem!Now blow a trumpet in TekoaAnd raise a signal over ¹^,^bBeth-haccerem,For evil looks down from the ^cnorth,As well as great destruction.²“The comely and ^adelicate one, ^bthe daughter of Zion, I will ruin.³“^aShepherds and their flocks will come to her;They will ^bpitch their tents ¹around her;They will pasture each in his ²place.⁴“^aSet yourselves apart for war against her;Arise, and let us go up at ^bnoon.Woe to us, for the day declines,For the shadows of the evening stretch out!⁵“Arise, and let us go up by nightAnd ¹^,^adestroy her ²palaces!”⁶For thus says Yahweh of hosts,“^aCut down her treesAnd cast up a ^bsiege against Jerusalem.This is the city to be punished,In whose midst there is only ^coppression.⁷“^aLike a well ¹keeps its waters fresh,So she ²keeps fresh her evil.^bViolence and devastation are heard in her;^cSickness and wounds are continually before Me.⁸“^aHeed discipline, O Jerusalem,Lest ^bMy soul become disgusted at you,Lest I make you a desolation,A land not inhabited.”

⁹Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “They will ^athoroughly glean as the vine the ^bremnant of Israel;Pass your hand again like a grape gathererOver the branches.”

¹⁰To whom shall I speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ^aears are uncircumcised,And they cannot give heed.Behold, ^bthe word of Yahweh has become a reproach to them;They have no delight in it.¹¹But I am ^afull of the wrath of Yahweh;I am ^bweary of holding it in.“^cPour it out on the infants in the streetAnd on the ¹gathering of choice men together;For both husband and wife shall be captured,The aged with the one full of days.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,” declares Yahweh.¹³“For ^afrom the least of them even to the greatest of them,Everyone is ^bgreedy for gain,And from the prophet even to the priestEveryone practices lying.¹⁴“They have ^ahealed the brokenness of My people superficially,Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’But there is no peace.¹⁵“Were they ^aashamed because of the abomination they have done?They were not even ashamed at all;They did not even know how to feel dishonor.Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish them,They shall be cast down,” says Yahweh.

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ^aancient paths,Where the good way is, and walk in it;And ^byou will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

¹⁷“And I set ^awatchmen over you, saying,‘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 is among them.¹⁹“^aHear, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil on this people,The ^bfruit of their ¹plans,Because they have not given heed to My words,And as for My law, they have ^crejected it also.²⁰“^aFor what purpose does ^bfrankincense come to Me from ShebaAnd the ¹^,^csweet cane from a distant land?^dYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”²¹Therefore, thus says Yahweh,“Behold, ^aI am ¹laying stumbling blocks before this people.And they will stumble against them,^bFathers and sons together;Neighbor and ²friend will perish.”

Mourn the Coming Destroyer

²²Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, ^aa people is coming from the land of the north,And a great nation will be aroused from the ^bremote parts of the earth.

²³“They take hold of ^abow and spear;They are ^bcruel and have no compassion;Their voice ^croars like the sea,And they ride on horses,Arranged as a man for the battleAgainst you, O daughter of Zion!”²⁴We have ^aheard the report of it;Our hands are limp.^bDistress has taken hold of us,Pain as of a woman in childbirth.²⁵^aDo not go out into the fieldAnd ^bdo not walk on the road,For the enemy has a sword;^cTerror is on every side.²⁶O daughter of my people, ^agird yourself with sackclothAnd ^broll in ashes;¹^,^cMourn as for an only son,A lamentation most bitter.For suddenly the destroyerWill come upon us.²⁷“I have ^amade you a tester of metals and ¹an assayer among My people,That you may know and test their way.”²⁸All of them are rebelliously stubborn,^aGoing about as a slanderer.They are ^bbronze and iron;They, all of them, are corrupt.²⁹The bellows blow fiercely;The lead ¹is consumed by the fire;In vain the refining goes on,But the ^aevil ones are not ²separated.³⁰^aThey call them rejected silverBecause ^bYahweh has rejected them.