English · KJV

Jeremiah 6

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Jerusalem Under Siege: The Warning 1–8

1
O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction. ​
2
I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. ​
3
The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place. ​
4
Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
5
Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6
For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. ​
7
As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.
8
Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited. ​

The People Refuse to Listen 9–15

9
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. ​
10
To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. ​
11
Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.
12
And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
13
For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. ​
14
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. ​
15
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.

The Call to the Old Paths 16–21

16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. ​
17
Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. ​
18
Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.
19
Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.
20
To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. ​
21
Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

Description of the Invading Army 22–26

22
Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. ​
23
They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24
We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
25
Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
26
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. ​

The Failed Test: Reprobate Silver 27–30

27
I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way. ​
28
They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
29
The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.
30
Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 6

Verse 1

blow the trumpet in Tekoa — The name Tekoa sounds like the verb 'blow' (taqa), so the alarm is sounded in the town named for it. Tekoa, south of Jerusalem, was the home of Amos (Amos 1:1). Bethhaccerem means 'house of the vineyard'. Jerusalem itself lay within the territory of Benjamin (Josh 18:28), so Benjamin's people are the first called to leave.

Verse 2

a comely and delicate woman — 'Delicate' is 'anag, soft and pampered, the word of Deut 28:56 for 'the tender and delicate woman among you' in the siege that covenant curse describes. 'Comely' (naveh) is lovely, or at home. Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion, is likened to such a woman, and the verses that follow bring the siege to her.

Verse 3

The shepherds with their flocks — The verb 'feed' is ra'ah, the same word as 'shepherds', so the invading commanders graze their armies over the land. They 'pitch their tents against her round about', a siege ring. Jeremiah 39:1 records it: 'Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it.'

Verse 6

Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount — The 'mount' (solelah) is a siege ramp heaped against the wall. The law let a besieger cut only trees 'that they be not trees for meat' and 'build bulwarks against the city' (Deut 20:20). Here the LORD of hosts himself gives the order, because 'this is the city to be visited' (paqad, to visit with punishment).

Verse 8

Be thou instructed — Yasar is to correct or discipline. 'Depart' is yaqa', to be wrenched away, as Jacob's thigh was 'out of joint' (Gen 32:25) and as the LORD's 'mind was alienated' in Ezek 23:18. The warning is that his own soul would be torn from the city, leaving it 'a land not inhabited'.

Verse 9

throughly glean the remnant — 'Alal is to glean thoroughly. A grape harvest normally leaves some gleaning grapes (Jer 49:9), but here the pickers pass over the vine again and again, 'as a grapegatherer into the baskets', so that the remnant of Israel is taken too.

Verse 10

their ear is uncircumcised — 'Arel is the word for uncircumcised. The ear is called so as the heart is in 4:4 and 9:26, 'all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart'. Stephen charges the council in the same terms: 'Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears' (Acts 7:51). The word of the LORD has become 'a reproach' (cherpah) to them.

Verse 13

given to covetousness — Betsa' is unjust gain, and the verse is repeated almost word for word in 8:10. It reaches 'the least… even unto the greatest' and also 'the prophet even unto the priest'. Micah 3:11 names the same trade: 'the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money'.

Verse 14

Peace, peace; when there is no peace — The 'hurt' is sheber, a breaking, the word translated 'destruction' in v.1; the false healers dress a fracture 'slightly' (qalal, lightly). The verse is repeated in 8:11. Ezekiel gives the same verdict on the prophets who said 'Peace; and there was no peace' (Ezek 13:10).

Verse 16

the old paths — The 'old' ('olam) paths are those from of old, the way laid down by the LORD in the law. The promise 'ye shall find rest for your souls' is taken up by Christ: 'ye shall find rest unto your souls' (Matt 11:29). The answer, 'We will not walk therein', is the people's refusal.

Verse 17

I set watchmen over you — Tsaphah is to lean forward and look into the distance. It is the word of Ezekiel's commission, 'I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel' (Ezek 3:17). The 'sound of the trumpet' is the watchman's alarm (v.1), and the refusal 'We will not hearken' answers the same refusal in v.16.

Verse 20

incense from Sheba — Frankincense (lebonah) came from Sheba (Isa 60:6), and 'sweet cane' (qaneh, calamus) was among the spices of the holy anointing oil (Exod 30:23). Such costly offerings are refused when they come without obedience. The LORD says in 7:22–23 that he spoke 'not… concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices', but 'Obey my voice'.

Verse 22

a people cometh from the north country — The same words are used of Babylon's own fall: 'Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth' (Jer 50:41). 'Sides' (yarkethah) is a recess or far quarter, so the nation is raised from the farthest region.

Verse 26

as for an only son — 'Only son' is yachid, the one life that cannot be replaced. The same grief is the measure in Amos 8:10, 'the mourning of an only son', and in Zech 12:10, where they 'shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son'. To 'wallow' (palash) in ashes is the mourner's act, and 'the spoiler' comes from the verb of 'we are spoiled' in 4:13.

Verse 27

for a tower and a fortress — 'Tower' is bachon, which occurs only here and names an assayer of metals; the verb 'try' (bachan) is to test metal. Jeremiah is set among the people to examine them as ore. The LORD had made him 'a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls' at his call (Jer 1:18).

Verse 30

Reprobate silver — 'Reprobate' and 'rejected' are one Hebrew word, ma'as, to spurn: the silver is named by the LORD's verdict on it. Isaiah says, 'Thy silver is become dross' (Isa 1:22), and Ezekiel says of Israel in the furnace, 'they are even the dross of silver' (Ezek 22:18). The refining of vv.28–29 has left nothing to keep.