Jerusalem’s Final Warning

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.

²Though she is beautiful and delicate,I will destroy the Daughter of Zion.

³Shepherds and their flockswill come against her;they will pitch their tents all around her,each tending his own portion:

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.

⁵Rise up, let us attack by nightand destroy her fortresses!’”

⁶For this is what the LORD of Hosts says:“Cut down the treesand raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.This city must be punished;there is nothing but oppression in her midst.

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.

⁸Be forewarned, O Jerusalem,or I will turn away from you;I will make you a desolation,a land without inhabitant.”

⁹This is what the LORD of Hosts says:“Glean the remnant of Israelas thoroughly as a vine.Pass your hand once more like a grape gathererover the branches.”

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.

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.

¹²Their houses will be turned over to others,their fields and wives as well,for I will stretch out My handagainst the inhabitants of the land,”declares the LORD.

¹³“For from the least of them to the greatest,all are greedy for gain;from prophet to priest,all practice deceit.

¹⁴They dress the wound of My peoplewith very little care,saying, ‘Peace, peace,’when there is no peace at all.

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.

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!’

¹⁷I appointed watchmen over you and said,‘Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.’But they answered, ‘We will not listen!’

¹⁸Therefore hear, O nations,and learn, O congregations,what will happen to them.

¹⁹Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people,the fruit of their own schemes,because they have paid no attention to My wordand have rejected My instruction.

²⁰What use to Me is frankincense from Shebaor sweet cane from a distant land?Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;your sacrifices do not please 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.”

An Invasion from the North

²²This is what the LORD says:“Behold, an army is comingfrom the land of the north;a great nation is stirred upfrom the ends of the earth.

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 formationagainst you, O Daughter of Zion.”

²⁴We have heard the report;our hands hang limp.Anguish has gripped us,pain like that 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.

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 destroyerwill come upon us.

²⁷“I have appointed you to examine My people like ore,so you may know and try their ways.

²⁸All are hardened rebels,walking around as slanderers.They are bronze and iron;all of them are corrupt.

²⁹The bellows blow fiercely,blasting away the lead with fire.The refining proceeds in vain,for the wicked are not purged.

³⁰They are called rejected silver,because the LORD has rejected them.”

Judah’s Sin and Punishment

¹“At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves.

²They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.

³And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts.

⁴So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says:“Do men fall and not get up again?Does one turn away and not return?

⁵Why then have these people turned away?Why does Jerusalem always turn away?They cling to deceit;they refuse to return.

⁶I have listened and heard;they do not speak what is right.No one repents of his wickedness,asking, ‘What have I done?’Everyone has pursued his own courselike a horse charging into battle.

⁷Even the stork in the skyknows her appointed seasons.The turtledove, the swift, and the thrushkeep their time of migration,but My people do not knowthe requirements of the LORD.

⁸How can you say, ‘We are wise,and the Law of the LORD is with us,’when in fact the lying pen of the scribeshas produced a deception?

⁹The wise will be put to shame;they will be dismayed and trapped.Since they have rejected the word of the LORD,what wisdom do they really have?

¹⁰Therefore I will give their wives to other menand their fields to new owners.For from the least of them to the greatest,all are greedy for gain;from prophet to priest,all practice deceit.

¹¹They dress the wound of the daughter of My peoplewith very little care,saying, ‘Peace, peace,’when there is no peace at all.

¹²Are 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.

¹³I will take away their harvest,declares the LORD.There will be no grapes on the vine,nor figs on the tree,and even the leaf will wither.Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”

The People Respond

¹⁴Why are we just sitting here?Gather together,let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there,for the LORD our God has doomed us.He has given us poisoned water to drink,because we have sinned against the LORD.

¹⁵We hoped for peace,but no good has come,for a time of healing,but there was only terror.

¹⁶The snorting of enemy horsesis heard from Dan.At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds,the whole land quakes.They come to devour the land and everything in it,the city and all who dwell in it.

¹⁷“For behold, I will send snakes among you,vipers that cannot be charmed,and they will bite you,”declares the LORD.

Jeremiah Weeps for His People

¹⁸My sorrow is beyond healing;my heart is faint within me.

¹⁹Listen to the cry of the daughter of my peoplefrom a land far away:“Is the LORD no longer in Zion?Is her King no longer there?”“Why have they provoked Me to angerwith their carved images,with their worthless foreign idols?”

²⁰“The harvest has passed, the summer has ended,but we have not been saved.”

²¹For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed.I mourn; horror has gripped me.

²²Is there no balm in Gilead?Is no physician there?Why then has the health of the daughter of my peoplenot been restored?

Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

¹These are the words of Amos, who was among the sheepherdersof Tekoa—what he saw concerning Israel two yearsbefore the earthquake, in the days when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoashwas king of Israel.

²He said:“The LORD roars from Zionand raises His voice from Jerusalem;the pastures of the shepherds mourn,and the summit of Carmel withers.”

³This is what the LORD says:“For three transgressions of Damascus, even four,I will not revoke My judgment,because they threshed Gileadwith sledges of iron.

⁴So I will send fire upon the house of Hazaelto consume the citadels of Ben-hadad.

⁵I will break down the gates of Damascus;I will cut off the rulerfrom the Valley of Avenand the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden.The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”says the LORD.

⁶This is what the LORD says:“For three transgressions of Gaza, even four,I will not revoke My judgment,because they exiled a whole population,delivering them up to Edom.

⁷So I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza,to consume its citadels.

⁸I will cut off the ruler of Ashdodand the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon.I will turn My hand against Ekron,and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,”says the Lord GOD.

⁹This is what the LORD says:“For three transgressions of Tyre, even four,I will not revoke My judgment,because they delivered up a whole congregation of exiles to Edomand broke a covenant of brotherhood.

¹⁰So I will send fire upon the walls of Tyreto consume its citadels.”

¹¹This is what the LORD says:“For three transgressions of Edom, even four,I will not revoke My judgment,because he pursued his brother with the swordand stifled all compassion;his anger raged continually,and his fury flamed incessantly.

¹²So I will send fire upon Temanto consume the citadels of Bozrah.”

¹³This is what the LORD says:“For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four,I will not revoke My judgment,because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gileadin order to enlarge their territory.

¹⁴So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbahto consume its citadelsamid war cries on the day of battleand a violent wind on the day of tempest.

¹⁵Their king will go into exile—he and his princes together,”says the LORD.

The Evanescence of Wealth

¹Hear this, all you peoples;listen, all inhabitants of the world,

²both low and high,rich and poor alike.

³My mouth will impart wisdom,and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.

⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;I will express my riddle with the harp:

⁵Why should I fear in times of trouble,when wicked usurpers surround me?

⁶They trust in their wealthand boast in their great riches.

⁷No man can possibly redeem his brotheror pay his ransom to God.

⁸For the redemption of his soul is costly,and never can payment suffice,

⁹that he should live on foreverand not see decay.

¹⁰For it is clear that wise men die,and the foolish and the senseless both perishand leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their gravesare their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure;he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of the foolishand their followers who endorse their sayings.Selah

¹⁴Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.Death will be their shepherd.The upright will rule them in the morning,and their form will decay in Sheol,far from their lofty abode.

¹⁵But God will redeem my life from Sheol,for He will surely take me to Himself.Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when a man grows rich,when the splendor of his house increases.

¹⁷For when he dies, he will carry nothing away;his abundance will not follow him down.

¹⁸Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—

¹⁹he will join the generation of his fathers,who will never see the light of day.

²⁰A man who has riches without understandingis like the beasts that perish.