Jeremiah 6:14-30

14 "They have ¹healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.

15 "Were they ²ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD.

16 Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ³ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And ⁴you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'

17 "And I set ⁵watchmen over you, saying, 'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not listen.'

18 "Therefore hear, O nations, And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19 "⁶Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people, The ⁷fruit of their plans, Because * they have not listened to My words, And as for My law, they have ⁸rejected it also.

20 "⁹For what purpose does ¹⁰frankincense come to Me from Sheba And the ¹¹sweet cane from a distant land? ¹²Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me."

21 Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, ¹³I am laying stumbling blocks before this people. And they will stumble against them, ¹⁴Fathers and sons together; Neighbor and friend will perish."

The Enemy from the North

22 Thus says the LORD, "Behold, ¹⁵a people is coming from the north land, And a great nation will be aroused from the ¹⁶remote parts of the earth.

23 "They seize ¹⁷bow and spear; They are ¹⁸cruel and have no mercy; Their voice ¹⁹roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Arrayed as a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Zion!"

24 We have ²⁰heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. ²¹Anguish has seized us, Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

25 ²²Do not go out into the field And ²³do not walk on the road, For the enemy has a sword, ²⁴Terror is on every side.

26 O daughter of my people, ²⁵put on sackcloth And ²⁶roll in ashes; ²⁷Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.

27 "I have ²⁸made you an assayer and a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way."

28 All of them are stubbornly rebellious, ²⁹Going about as a talebearer. They are ³⁰bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt.

29 The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the ³¹wicked are not separated.

30 ³²They call them rejected silver, Because the ³³LORD has rejected them.

Jeremiah 6:14-30 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10
• 2. Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 8:12
• 3. Isaiah 8:20; Jeremiah 12:16; Jeremiah 18:15; Jeremiah 31:21; Malachi 4:4; Luke 16:29
• 4. Matthew 11:29
• 5. Isaiah 21:11; Isaiah 58:1; Jeremiah 25:4; Ezekiel 3:17; Habakkuk 2:1
• 6. Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 19:3, 15; Jeremiah 22:29
• 7. Proverbs 1:31
• 8. Jeremiah 8:9
• 9. Psalms 50:7-9; Isaiah 1:11; Isaiah 66:3; Micah 6:6
• 10. Isaiah 60:6
• 11. Exodus 30:23
• 12. Psalms 40:6; Amos 5:22
• 13. Isaiah 8:14; Jeremiah 13:16
• 14. Isaiah 9:14-17; Jeremiah 9:21, 22
• 15. Jeremiah 1:15; Jeremiah 10:22; Jeremiah 50:41-43
• 16. Nehemiah 1:9
• 17. Isaiah 13:18; Jeremiah 4:29
• 18. Jeremiah 50:42
• 19. Isaiah 5:30
• 20. Isaiah 28:19; Jeremiah 4:19-21
• 21. Isaiah 21:3; Jeremiah 4:31; Jeremiah 13:21; Jeremiah 30:6; Jeremiah 49:24; Jeremiah 50:43
• 22. Jeremiah 14:18
• 23. Judges 5:6
• 24. Jeremiah 20:10; Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah 49:29
• 25. Jeremiah 4:8
• 26. Jeremiah 25:34; Micah 1:10
• 27. Amos 8:10; Zechariah 12:10
• 28. Jeremiah 1:18; Jeremiah 15:20
• 29. Jeremiah 9:4
• 30. Ezekiel 22:18
• 31. Jeremiah 15:19
• 32. Psalms 119:119; Isaiah 1:22
• 33. Jeremiah 7:29; Hosea 9:17; Zechariah 11:8

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "devices"
• [b]. Lit "good"
• [c]. Lit "giving"
• [d]. Lit "his friend"
• [e]. Lit "Make for yourself mourning"
• [f]. Or "drawn off"