Jeremiah 6 - Prayer Tents

Jerusalem’s Last Warning

6“Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem! A powerful army is coming from the north, coming with disaster and destruction.H1121H1144H5756H7130H3389H8628H7782H8620H5375H4864H1021H7451H8259H6828H1419H76672O Jerusalem

, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter—but I will destroy you!H1820H1323H6726H5116H60263Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.H7462H5739H935H8628H168H5439H7462H376H30274They shout, ‘Prepare for battle! Attack at noon!’ ‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling.’H6942H4421H6965H5927H6672H188H3117H6437H6752H6153H51865‘Well then, let’s attack at night and destroy her palaces!’”H6965H5927H3915H7843H7596This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through.H3068H6635H559H3772H6097H8210H5550H3389H5892H6485H6233H71307She spouts evil like a fountain. Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. I always see her sickness and sores.H953H6979H4325H6979H7451H2555H7701H8085H6440H8548H2483H43478Listen to this warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn from you in disgust. Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins, a land where no one lives.”H3256H3389H5315H3363H7760H8077H776H34279This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Even the few who remain in Israel will be picked over again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed.”H559H3068H6635H5953H5953H7611H3478H1612H7725H3027H1219H5552

Judah’s Constant Rebellion

10To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all.H1696H5749H8085H241H6189H3201H7181H1697H3068H2781H265411So now I am filled with the Lord’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! “I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets and on gatherings of young men, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray.H4392H2534H3068H3811H3557H8210H5768H2351H5475H970H3162H376H802H3920H2205H4390H311712Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, as will their fields and their wives. For I will raise my powerful fist against the people of this land,” says the Lord.H1004H5437H312H7704H802H3162H5186H3027H3427H776H5002H306813“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds.H6996H1419H1214H1215H5030H3548H6213H826714They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.H7495H7667H1323H5971H7043H559H7965H7965H796515Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.H3001H6213H8441H1571H954H954H1571H3045H3637H5307H5307H6256H6485H3782H559H3068

Judah Rejects the Lord’s Way

16This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’H559H3068H5975H1870H7200H7592H5769H5410H2896H1870H3212H4672H4771H5315H559H321217I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’ But you replied, ‘No! We won’t pay attention!’H6965H6822H7181H6963H7782H559H718118“Therefore, listen to this, all you nations. Take note of my people’s situation.H8085H1471H3045H571219Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word.H8085H776H935H7451H5971H6529H4284H7181H1697H8451H398820There’s no use offering me sweet frankincense from Sheba. Keep your fragrant calamus imported from distant lands! I will not accept your burnt offerings. Your sacrifices have no pleasing aroma for me.”H935H3828H7614H2896H7070H4801H776H5930H7522H2077H614921Therefore, this is what the Lord says: “I will put obstacles in my people’s path. Fathers and sons will both fall over them. Neighbors and friends will die together.”H559H3068H5414H4383H5971H1H1121H3162H3782H7934H7453H6

An Invasion from the North

22This is what the Lord says: “Look! A great army coming from the north! A great nation is rising against you from far-off lands.H559H3068H5971H935H6828H776H1419H1471H5782H3411H77623They are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like a roaring sea as they ride forward on horses. They are coming in battle formation, planning to destroy you, beautiful Jerusalem

.”H2388H7198H3591H394H7355H6963H1993H3220H7392H5483H6186H376H4421H1323H672624We have heard reports about the enemy, and we wring our hands in fright. Pangs of anguish have gripped us, like those of a woman in labor.H8085H8089H3027H7503H6869H2388H2427H320525Don’t go out to the fields! Don’t travel on the roads! The enemy’s sword is everywhere and terrorizes us at every turn!H3318H7704H3212H1870H2719H341H4032H543926Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son. For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you!H1323H5971H2296H8242H6428H665H6213H60H3173H8563H4553H7703H6597H93527“Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals

, that you may determine the quality of my people.H5414H969H4013H5971H3045H974H187028They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption.H5493H5637H1980H7400H5178H1270H784329The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, for the wickedness remains.H4647H2787H5777H8552H800H784H6884H6884H7723H7451H542330I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’ for I, the Lord, am discarding them.”H3988H3701H7121H3068H3988