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1“Run for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem!
Sound the trumpet in Tekoa!
Light the signal fires at Beth Hakkerem!
For disaster lurks out of the north;
it will bring great destruction.
2I will destroy Daughter Zion,[#tn The verb here is another example of the Hebrew verb form that indicates the action is as good as done (a Hebrew prophetic perfect).; #sn Jerusalem is personified as a young maiden who is helpless in the hands of her enemies.]
who is as delicate and defenseless as a young maiden.
3Kings will come against it with their armies.[#tn Heb “Shepherds and their flocks will come against it.” Rulers are often depicted as shepherds; see BDB 945 s.v. רָעָה 1.d(2) (cf. Jer 12:10). The translation of this verse attempts to clarify the point of this extended metaphor.]
They will encamp in siege all around it.
Each of them will devastate the portion assigned to him.
4They will say, ‘Prepare to do battle against it![#tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “Sanctify war.” This is probably an idiom from early Israel’s holy wars in which religious rites were to precede the battle.]
Come on! Let’s attack it at noon!’
But later they will say, ‘Oh, oh! Too bad!
The day is almost over
and the shadows of evening are getting long.
5So come on, let’s go ahead and attack it by night
and destroy all its fortified buildings.’
6All of this is because the Lord who rules over all has said:[#tn Heb “For.” The translation attempts to make the connection clearer.; #tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.]
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem
and build up a siege ramp against its walls.
This is the city which is to be punished.
Nothing but oppression happens in it.
7As a well continually pours out fresh water
so it continually pours out wicked deeds.
Sounds of violence and destruction echo throughout it.
All I see are sick and wounded people.’
8So take warning, Jerusalem,[#tn This word is not in the text but is supplied in the translation. Jeremiah uses a figure of speech (enallage) where the speaker turns from talking about someone to address him/her directly.]
or I will abandon you in disgust
and make you desolate,
a place where no one can live.”
9This is what the Lord who rules over all said to me:[#tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”sn For an explanation of the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.; #tn The words “to me” are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.]
“Those who remain in Israel will be
like the grapes thoroughly gleaned from a vine.
So go over them again, as though you were a grape harvester
passing your hand over the branches one last time.”
10I answered,[#tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity.]
“Who would listen
if I spoke to them and warned them?
Their ears are so closed
that they cannot hear!
Indeed, what the Lord says is offensive to them.
They do not like it at all.
11I am as full of anger as you are, Lord ,[#tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the Lord.”]
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered,
“Vent it, then, on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included,
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
12Their houses will be turned over to others
as will their fields and their wives.
For I will unleash my power
against those who live in this land,”
says the Lord .
13“That is because, from the least important to the most important of them,
all of them are greedy for dishonest gain.
Prophets and priests alike,
all of them practice deceit.
14They offer only superficial help
for the harm my people have suffered.
They say, ‘Everything will be all right!’
But everything is not all right!
15Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things?
No, they are not at all ashamed.
They do not even know how to blush!
So they will die, just like others have died.
They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”
says the Lord .
16The Lord said to his people:[#tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.]
“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path.
Ask where the old, reliable paths are.
Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it.
If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”
But they said, “We will not follow it!”
17The Lord said,[#tn These words are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.]
“I appointed prophets as watchmen to warn you, saying:
‘Pay attention to the warning sound of the trumpet!’”
But they said, “We will not pay attention!”
18So the Lord said,[#tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the flow of the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.]
“Hear, you nations!
Be witnesses and take note of what will happen to these people.
19Hear this, you peoples of the earth:[#tn Heb “earth.”]
‘Take note! I am about to bring disaster on these people.
It will come as punishment for their scheming.
For they have paid no attention to what I have said,
and they have rejected my law.
20I take no delight when they offer up to me[#tn Heb “To what purpose is it to me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a negative answer.; #tn The words “when they offer up to me” are not in the text but are implicit from the following context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.]
frankincense that comes from Sheba
or sweet-smelling cane imported from a faraway land.
I cannot accept the burnt offerings they bring me.
I get no pleasure from the sacrifices they offer to me.’
21So, this is what the Lord says:
‘I will assuredly make these people stumble to their doom.
Parents and children will stumble and fall to their destruction.
Friends and neighbors will die.’
22“This is what the Lord says:
‘Beware! An army is coming from a land in the north.
A mighty nation is stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.
23Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears.
They are cruel and show no mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride forth on their horses.
Lined up in formation like men going into battle
to attack you, Daughter Zion.’”
24The people cry out, “We have heard reports about them![#tn These words are not in the text, but, from the context, someone other than God is speaking and is speaking for and to the people (either Jeremiah or the people themselves). These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.]
We have become helpless with fear!
Anguish grips us,
agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!
25Do not go out into the countryside.
Do not travel on the roads.
For the enemy is there with sword in hand.
They are spreading terror everywhere.”
26So I said, “Oh, my dear people, put on sackcloth[#tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the context.; #tn Heb “daughter of my people.” For the translation given here see 4:11 and the translator’s note there.]
and roll in ashes.
Mourn with painful sobs
as though you had lost your only child.
For any moment now that destructive army
will come against us.”
27The Lord said to me,[#tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Note “I have appointed you.” Compare Jer 1:18.]
“I have made you like a metal assayer
to test my people like ore.
You are to observe them
and evaluate how they behave.”
28I reported,[#tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some takes these words to be the continuation of the Lord’s commission of Jeremiah to the task of testing them. However, since this is the evaluation, the task appears to be complete. The words are better to be taken as Jeremiah’s report after he has completed the task.]
“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels!
They are as hard as bronze or iron.
They go about telling lies.
They all deal corruptly.
29The fiery bellows of judgment burn fiercely.
But there is too much dross to be removed.
The process of refining them has proved useless.
The wicked have not been purged.
30They are regarded as ‘rejected silver’[#tn This translation is intended to reflect the wordplay in the Hebrew text where the same root word is repeated in the two lines.]
because the Lord rejects them.”