| Berean Study Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1“Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction. | 1“Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem! A powerful army is coming from the north, coming with disaster and destruction. |
| 2Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy the Daughter of Zion. | 2O Jerusalem, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter— but I will destroy you! |
| 3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her, each tending his own portion: | 3Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour. |
| 4‘Prepare for battle against her; rise up, let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the daylight is fading; the evening shadows grow long. | 4They shout, ‘Prepare for battle! Attack at noon!’ ‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling.’ |
| 5Rise up, let us attack by night and destroy her fortresses!’ ” | 5‘Well then, let’s attack at night and destroy her palaces!’” |
| 6For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Cut down the trees and raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; there is nothing but oppression in her midst. | 6This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through. |
| 7As a well gushes its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her; sickness and wounds are ever before Me. | 7She spouts evil like a fountain. Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. I always see her sickness and sores. |
| 8Be forewarned, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitant.” | 8Listen to this warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn from you in disgust. Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins, a land where no one lives.” |
| 9This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.” | 9This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Even the few who remain in Israel will be picked over again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed.” Judah’s Constant Rebellion |
| 10To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. | 10To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the LORD. They don’t want to listen at all. |
| 11But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike. | 11So now I am filled with the LORD’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! “I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets and on gatherings of young men, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray. |
| 12Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD. | 12Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, as will their fields and their wives. For I will raise my powerful fist against the people of this land,” says the LORD. |
| 13“For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit. | 13“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds. |
| 14They dress the wound of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. | 14They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. |
| 15Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD. | 15Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Judah Rejects the LORD’s Way |
| 16This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths: ‘Where is the good way?’ Then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’ | 16This is what the LORD says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ |
| 17I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’ But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’ | 17I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’ But you replied, ‘No! We won’t pay attention!’ |
| 18Therefore hear, O nations, and learn, O congregations, what will happen to them. | 18“Therefore, listen to this, all you nations. Take note of my people’s situation. |
| 19Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction. | 19Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word. |
| 20What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.” | 20There’s no use offering me sweet frankincense from Sheba. Keep your fragrant calamus imported from distant lands! I will not accept your burnt offerings. Your sacrifices have no pleasing aroma for me.” |
| 21Therefore this is what the LORD says: “I will lay stumbling blocks before this people; fathers and sons alike will be staggered; friends and neighbors will perish.” | 21Therefore, this is what the LORD says: “I will put obstacles in my people’s path. Fathers and sons will both fall over them. Neighbors and friends will die together.” An Invasion from the North |
| 22This is what the LORD says: “Behold, an army is coming from the land of the north; a great nation is stirred up from the ends of the earth. | 22This is what the LORD says: “Look! A great army coming from the north! A great nation is rising against you from far-off lands. |
| 23They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.” | 23They are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like a roaring sea as they ride forward on horses. They are coming in battle formation, planning to destroy you, beautiful Jerusalem. ” |
| 24We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor. | 24We have heard reports about the enemy, and we wring our hands in fright. Pangs of anguish have gripped us, like those of a woman in labor. |
| 25Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. | 25Don’t go out to the fields! Don’t travel on the roads! The enemy’s sword is everywhere and terrorizes us at every turn! |
| 26O daughter of my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter wailing, as you would for an only son, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us. | 26Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son. For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you! |
| 27“I have appointed you to examine My people like ore, so you may know and try their ways. | 27“Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals, that you may determine the quality of my people. |
| 28All are hardened rebels, walking around as slanderers. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt. | 28They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption. |
| 29The bellows blow fiercely, blasting away the lead with fire. The refining proceeds in vain, for the wicked are not purged. | 29The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, for the wickedness remains. |
| 30They are called rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.” | 30I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’ for I, the LORD, am discarding them.” |
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