NOTES for Jer 6:1-30
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 Beth-haccerem: 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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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The enemy invasion is to become retribution for unfaithfulness. Quite recently the Lord was with His people as they fought their enemies; it was thanks to Him that the people won victories. But now He is on the side of those who are going to conquer Jerusalem. Yet it is not the Lord who betrayed the people; the people have departed from Him. This sits uneasily in minds accustomed to the logic of simple answers, but nevertheless it is so: even while fighting against the people, the Lord continues to preserve them and care for them, trying to help their ways be corrected.
For now, among this people words about peace are heard, but there is no peace either on earth or in hearts. This too is familiar to us: too often in our time words about peace become a hypocritical ritual that covers hatred and a constant readiness for enmity. And now we see that many people, having cast aside words that have lost trust, not only fail to seek genuine peace but openly sow discord. Their disgust with hypocrisy can be understood. But hypocrisy is not abolished by evil that gives birth to new hypocrisy; it is abolished by the genuine embodiment of good. If this does not happen, then the Lord not only rejects hypocritical rituals, but also does not prevent that very evil which the people chose for themselves from crashing down upon them: the one who rejected mercy will have to taste its opposite.
And yet again and again the grieving are compared to a woman in labor, and this comparison gives hope. A woman suffers during childbirth, but her pain is not meaningless: through it new life appears. And if the people are born anew through painful repentance, their sufferings will not be meaningless.
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Readings for 30 June 2026
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