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Jeremiah 6

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Threatened Siege of Jerusalem

1 Run for cover,[a] Benjaminites, out of Jerusalem! Sound the ram's horn in Tekoa;[b] raise a smoke signal[c] over Beth-haccherem,[d] for disaster threatens from the north, even great destruction.
2 [Though she is] beautiful and delicate, I will destroy[e] Daughter Zion.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch [their] tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion.
4 Set [them] apart for war[f] against her; rise up, let's attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.
5 Rise up, let's attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses."
6 For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.
7 As a well gushes out its water, so she pours forth her evil.[g] Violence and destruction[h] resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.
8 Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will be torn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land devoid of inhabitant.

Wrath on Israel

9 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Glean as thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.
10 Who can I speak to and give such a warning[i] that they will listen? Look, their ear is uncircumcised,[j][k] so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them- they find no pleasure in it.
11 But I am full of the Lord's wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour [it] out on the children in the street, on the gang of young men as well. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old.[l]
12 Their houses will be turned over to others, [their] fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the residents of the land. [This is] the Lord's declaration.
13 For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is gaining profit unjustly.[m] From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.
14 They have treated My people's brokenness superficially, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren't at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse,[n][o] says the Lord.

Disaster Because of Disobedience

16 This is what the Lord says: Stand by the roadways and look. Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good? Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested: We won't!
17 I appointed watchmen over you [and said:] Listen for the sound of the ram's horn. But they protested: We won't listen!
18 Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what [the charge] is against them.
19 Listen, earth! I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, for they have paid no attention to My word. They have rejected My law.
20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane[p] from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.[q]
21 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them;[r] friends and neighbors will [also] perish.

A Cruel Nation from the North

22 This is what the Lord says: Look, an army is coming from a northern land; a great nation will be awakened from the remote regions of the earth.[s]
23 They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea,[t] and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.
24 We have heard about it, and we are discouraged.[u] Distress has seized us- pain like a woman in labor.[v][w]
25 Don't go out to the fields; don't walk on the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.[x]
26 My dear[y] people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust.[z] Mourn [as you would for] an only son,[aa] a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

Jeremiah Appointed as an Examiner

27 I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people- a refiner[ab]- so you may know and assay their way of life.[ac]
28 All are stubborn rebels spreading slander.[ad] [They are] bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.[ae]
29 The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.
30 They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them.[af]
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Your Daily Verse - Jeremiah 6:16

Jeremiah 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

The invasion of Judea. (1-8) The justice of God's proceedings. (9-17) All methods used to amend them had been without success. (18-30)

Verses 1-8 Whatever methods are used, it is vain to contend with God's judgments. The more we indulge in the pleasures of this life, the more we unfit ourselves for the troubles of this life. The Chaldean army shall break in upon the land of Judah, and in a little time devour all. The day is coming, when those careless and secure in sinful ways will be visited. It is folly to trifle when we have eternal salvation to work out, and the enemies of that salvation to fight against. But they were thus eager, not that they might fulfil God's counsels, but that they might fill their own treasures; yet God thereby served his own purposes. The corrupt heart of man, in its natural state, casts out evil thoughts, just as a fountain casts out her waters. It is always flowing, yet always full. The God of mercy is loth to depart even from a provoking people, and is earnest with them, that by repentance and reformation, they may prevent things from coming to extremity.

Verses 9-17 When the Lord arises to take vengeance, no sinners of any age or rank, or of either sex escape. They were set upon the world, and wholly carried away by the love of it. If we judge of this sin by God's word, we find multitudes in every station and rank given up to it. Those are to be reckoned our worst and most dangerous enemies, who flatter us in a sinful way. Oh that men would be wise for their souls! Ask for the old paths; the way of godliness and righteousness has always been the way God has owned and blessed. Ask for the old paths set forth by the written word of God. When you have found the good way, go on in it, you will find abundant recompence at your journey's end. But if men will not obey the voice of God and flee to his appointed Refuge, it will plainly appear at the day of judgment, that they are ruined because they reject God's word.

Verses 18-30 God rejects their outward services, as worthless to atone for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin, they provoke God. The sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters, and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore supposed to have good metal in it, but which proves all dross. Nothing will prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless. When warnings, corrections, rebukes, and all means of grace, leave men unrenewed, they will be left, as rejected of God, to everlasting misery. Let us pray, then, that we may be refined by the Lord, as silver is refined.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Footnotes 32

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 6

This chapter is of the same argument with the former; and contains two things in it, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, and the causes of it, which are intermixedly handled in it; a lively description is made of the notice of the approach of the enemy by blowing of trumpets and firing of beacons, Jer 6:1, and of the siege of the city, by pitching tents around it, casting up a mount against it, and scaling its walls at noon and by night, Jer 6:2-6, and this destruction is illustrated by the simile of gleaning of grapes, Jer 6:9, and amplified by the universality of it, with respect to persons and things; it reaching to persons of every age, and in every state, as old men, young men, and children, husbands and wives, and to all sorts of possessions, houses and fields, Jer 6:11,12,21, a description is given of the instruments of it, the Chaldeans, Jer 6:22,23 and it is aggravated by the anxiety, distress, and sorrow, the Jews would be in on account of it, Jer 6:24-26, the causes of it are in general the great aboundings of sin and wickedness in the midst of them, illustrated by a fountain casting out its waters, Jer 6:6,7, in particular, their neglect and contempt of the word of the Lord, Jer 6:10, the sin of covetousness, which prevailed among all sorts of people, high and low, in civil or religious life, Jer 6:13, the unfaithfulness of the prophets to the people, declaring peace, when there was none, Jer 6:14, their impenitence and hardness, Jer 6:15, their disregard to all instructions and warnings, Jer 6:16,17, their rejection of the law, and the precepts of it, Jer 6:18,19, their hypocritical sacrifices, Jer 6:20, and the chapter is concluded with an address to the prophet, setting forth his character and office, and the end of it, Jer 6:27 and his testimony concerning the people, showing their obstinacy and stubbornness, illustrated by a simile of refining metal in a furnace without success, Jer 6:28-30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Jeremiah 6 Commentaries

Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.