Jeremiah 6

1 Sons of Benjamin, be ye comforted in the middle of Jerusalem, and make ye noise with a clarion in Tekoa, and raise ye a banner on Bethhaccerem; for why evil and great sorrow is seen from the north. (Sons of Benjamin, escape ye from the midst of Jerusalem, and make ye a sound with a trumpet in Tekoa, and raise ye up a banner over Bethhaccerem; for evil and great sorrow is seen coming from the north.)

2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a fair woman and delicate. (I have likened, or compared, the daughter of Zion to a beautiful and delicate woman.)

3 Shepherds and their flocks shall come to it; they have pitched tents in it in compass; each man shall feed them, that be under his hand. (Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents all around her; each one shall feed his beasts there, that be under his hand.)

4 Hallow ye battle on it. Rise ye together, and ascend we in midday (Prepare ye battle against her. Rise ye up together, and go we up at midday). Woe to us, for the day hath bowed down, for shadows be made longer in the eventide.

5 Rise ye, and ascend we in the night, and destroy we the houses thereof. (Rise ye, and go we up in the night, and let us destroy its houses.)

6 For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down the tree(s) thereof, and shed ye earth about Jerusalem; this is the city of visitation; all false challenge is in the midst thereof. (For the Lord of hosts saith these things, Cut ye down its trees, and heap ye earth all around Jerusalem; this is the city to be punished; for oppression is widespread in its midst.)

7 As a cistern maketh his water cold, so it made his malice cold; wickedness and destroying shall ever be heard therein before me, sickness and wound. (Like a cistern maketh its water cold, so Jerusalem made its malice cold; wickedness and destruction be heard there, sickness and wounds be ever before me.)

8 Jerusalem, be thou taught, lest peradventure my soul go away from thee; lest peradventure I set thee forsaken, a land unhabitable. (Jerusalem, make thyself able to be taught, lest perhaps my soul go away from thee; lest perhaps I make thee deserted, yea, a land uninhabited/yea, an uninhabitable land.)

9 The Lord of hosts saith these things, They shall gather till to a raisin, they shall gather the remnants of Israel as in a vinery (they shall gather the remnants of Israel like in a vineyard); turn thine hand, as a gatherer of grapes to the basket.

10 To whom shall I speak, and to whom shall I say witnessing, that he hear? Lo! the ears of them be uncircumcised, and they be not able to hear; lo! the word of the Lord is made to them into despite, and they shall not receive it (lo! the word of the Lord is taken as a rebuke to them, and they shall not accept it).

11 Therefore I am full of the strong vengeance of the Lord, and I travailed suffering. Shed thou out vengeance on a little child withoutforth, and on the counsel(s) of young men together (Pour thou out vengeance upon a little child outside, and upon young men who make plans together); for a man with his wife shall be taken, and an eld man with him that is full of days.

12 And the houses of them, (with) the fields and wives together, shall go to other men; for I shall stretch forth mine hand on the dwellers of the land, saith the Lord.

13 For from the less unto the greater, all study to avarice; and all do guile, from the prophet unto the priest. (For from the least unto the greatest, all work hard to do avarice, or to fulfill their greed; and all be deceitful, from the prophet unto the priest.)

14 And they healed the sorrow of the daughter of my people with evil fame, saying, Peace, peace, and no peace was. (And they tried to heal the sorrow of the daughter of my people with shallow words, by simply saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace.)

15 They be shamed, that did abomination; yea, rather they were not shamed by confusion, and they could not be ashamed. Wherefore they shall fall down among them that shall fall down; they shall fall down in the time of their visitation, saith the Lord. (Were they ashamed, who did these abominations? nay, they were not ashamed, and they could not be ashamed. And so they shall fall among the fallen; they shall fall down at the time of their punishment, saith the Lord.)

16 The Lord saith these things, Stand ye on ways, and see ye, and ask ye of [the] eld paths, which is the good way; and go ye therein, and ye shall find refreshing to your souls. And they said, We shall not go. (The Lord saith these things, Stand ye at the crossways, and see ye, and ask ye for the old paths, and where is the good way; and go ye on it, and ye shall find refreshing for your souls. But they said, We shall not go on it.)

17 And I ordained espyers, either beholders, on you, and I said, Hear ye the voice of a trump. And they said, We shall not hear (it).

18 Therefore, heathen men, hear ye, and, thou congregation, know, how great things I shall do to them. (And so, ye heathen, listen, and, thou congregation, know, what mighty things I shall do to them.)

19 Thou earth, hear, lo! I shall bring evils on this people, the fruit of their thoughts; for they heard not my words, and casted away my law (and cast away my Law).

20 Whereto bring ye to me incense from Sheba, and a tree of spicery smelling sweetly from a far land? Your burnt sacrifices be not accepted, and your slain sacrifices pleased not me (I will not accept your burnt sacrifices, and your slain sacrifices do not please me).

21 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I shall give (causes of) fallings into this people, and fathers and sons together, (and) a neighbour and (a) kinsman, shall fall in them, and shall perish.

22 The Lord God saith these things, Lo! a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great folk shall rise together from the ends of [the] earth (and a great nation shall altogether rise from the ends of the earth).

23 It shall take arrow and shield; it is cruel, and shall not have mercy; the voice thereof shall sound as the sea, and they made ready as a man to battle shall ascend on horses against thee, thou daughter of Zion. (They shall take up arrows and shields; they be cruel, and shall not have mercy; their thunder shall sound like the sea, and like a man prepared for battle, they shall go upon horses against thee, O daughter of Zion.)

24 We [have] heard the fame thereof, our hands be aclumsid; tribulation hath taken us, sorrows have taken us as a woman travailing of child. (And ye shall say, We have heard of their reputation, and our hands be benumbed; tribulation hath taken hold of us, yea, sorrows have taken hold of us like a woman in labour.)

25 Do not ye go out to the fields, and go ye not in the way, for the sword of the enemy, dread in compass (Do not ye go out to the fields, and go ye not on the way, for the sword of the enemy, and fear all around.)

26 The daughter of my people, be thou girded with hair-shirt, and be thou sprinkled together with ashes; make to thee mourning of [the] one alone begotten son, a bitter wailing, for why a waster shall come suddenly [up]on you. (The daughter of my people, be thou girded with a hair-shirt, and be thou altogether sprinkled with ashes; make thyself as if mourning for thy only begotten son, yea, a bitter wailing, for a destroyer shall suddenly come upon you.)

27 I gave thee to be a strong prover in my people, and thou shalt know, and prove the way of them. (I gave thee to be a strong assayer, or a strong tester, of my people, and thou shalt know, and prove their ways.)

28 All these princes bowing away, going guilefully, be (like) metal and iron; all be corrupt. (All these people turning away, doing deceitfully, be made hard like metal and iron; they all be corrupt.)

29 The bellow failed, lead is wasted in the fire, the weller welled in vain (the welder welded in vain); for the malices of them be not wasted.

30 Call ye them reprovable silver (Call ye them worthless silver), for the Lord hath cast them away.

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.

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.