Jerusalem’s Last Warning

1“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.

2O Jerusalem,a you are my beautiful and delicate daughter—

but I will destroy you!

3Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city.

Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.

4They shout, ‘Prepare for battle!

Attack at noon!’

‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading,

and the evening shadows are falling.’

5‘Well then, let’s attack at night

and destroy her palaces!’”

6This 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.

7She spouts evil like a fountain.

Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction.

I always see her sickness and sores.

8Listen 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.”

9This 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.”

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.

11So 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.

12Their 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.

13“From the least to the greatest,

their lives are ruled by greed.

From prophets to priests,

they are all frauds.

14They offer superficial treatments

for my people’s mortal wound.

They give assurances of peace

when there is no peace.

15Are 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.

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!’

17I posted watchmen over you who said,

‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’

But you replied,

‘No! We won’t pay attention!’

18“Therefore, listen to this, all you nations.

Take note of my people’s situation.

19Listen, 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.

20There’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.”

21Therefore, 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.”

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.

23They 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.b”

24We 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.

25Don’t go out to the fields!

Don’t travel on the roads!

The enemy’s sword is everywhere

and terrorizes us at every turn!

26Oh, 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!

27“Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals,c

that you may determine the quality of my people.

28They are the worst kind of rebel,

full of slander.

They are as hard as bronze and iron,

and they lead others into corruption.

29The bellows fiercely fan the flames

to burn out the corruption.

But it does not purify them,

for the wickedness remains.

30I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’

for I, the LORD, am discarding them.”