Jeremiah 6:1-10

1 "Head for cover, people of Binyamin, get out of Yerushalayim! Blow the shofar in T'koa, light the beacon on Beit-Hakerem. For disaster threatens from the north, with great destruction.
2 Although she is beautiful and delicate, I am cutting off the daughter of Tziyon."
3 Shepherds advance on her with their flocks; all around her they pitch their tents, each grazing his own plot of pasture.
4 "Prepare for war against her! Get up! Let's attack at noon!" "Woe to us! for the day is waning, evening shadows are lengthening."
5 "Get up! Let's attack at night! Let's destroy her palaces!"
6 For ADONAI-Tzva'ot says this: "Cut down her trees, and raise a siege-ramp against Yerushalayim! This is the city to be punished; in her there is nothing but oppression.
7 Just as a cistern keeps its water fresh, so she keeps her wickedness fresh! Violence and destruction are heard within her, always before me sickness and wounds.
8 Accept correction, Yerushalayim, or I will be estranged from you and turn you into a desolate waste, a land without inhabitants."
9 Thus says ADONAI-Tzva'ot: "They will glean the remnant of Isra'el as thoroughly as in a vineyard - one last time, like a grape-picker, pass your hand over the vines."
10 To whom should I speak? Whom should I warn? Who will listen to me? Their ears are dull, they can't pay attention. For them the word of ADONAI has become unattractive, an object of scorn.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.