Jeremiah 6:3-13

3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed each one his portion.

4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up towards the south. Woe unto us! for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

6 For thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Hew ye down trees and cast a mount against Jerusalem; this is the city that all of her is to be visited; there is violence in the midst of her.

7 As the waters never cease to flow from a fountain, so her wickedness never ceases to flow; injustice and robbery is heard in her; in my presence continually, sickness and wounds.

8 Chastise Jerusalem lest peradventure my soul be disjointed from thee, lest peradventure I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

9 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, They shall thoroughly 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 ears are 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 have worked hard to hold myself in from pouring it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for the husband with the wife shall also 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 each one is given to greed; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.

Jeremiah 6:3-13 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.