Jeremiah 6

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction.	1 Flee, sons of Benjamin, out of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, raise a signal over Beth-haccherem; For evil threatens from the north, and mighty destruction.
2 I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman.	2 O lovely and delicate daughter Zion, you are ruined!
3 The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.	3 Against her, shepherds come with their flocks; all around, they pitch their tents, each one grazes his portion.
4 Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer.	4 "Prepare for war against her, Up! let us rush upon her at midday! Alas! the day is waning, evening shadows lengthen;
5 Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses.	5 Up! let us rush upon her by night, destroy her palaces!"
6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her.	6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Hew down her trees, throw up a siege mound against Jerusalem. Woe to the city marked for punishment; nought but oppression within her!
7 As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me.	7 As the well gushes out its waters, so she gushes out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; ever before me are wounds and blows.
8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited.	8 Be warned, O Jerusalem, lest I be estranged from you; Lest I turn you into a desert, a land where no man dwells.
9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer into the basket.	9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Glean, glean like a vine the remnant of Israel; Pass your hand, like a vintager, repeatedly over the tendrils.
10 To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and and they will not receive it.	10 To whom shall I speak? whom shall I warn, and be heard? See! their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot give heed; See, the word of the LORD has become for them an object of scorn, which they will not have.
11 Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days.	11 Therefore my wrath brims up within me, I am weary of holding it in; I will pour it out upon the child in the street, upon the young men gathered together. Yes, all will be taken, husband and wife, graybeard with ancient.
12 And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch for my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.	12 Their houses will fall to strangers, their fields and their wives as well; For I will stretch forth my hand against those who dwell in this land, says the LORD.
13 For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit.	13 Small and great alike, all are greedy for gain; prophet and priest, all practice fraud.
14 And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace.	14 They would repair, as though it were nought, the injury to my people: "Peace, peace!" they say, though there is no peace.
15 They were confounded, because they commmitted abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord.	15 They are odious; they have done abominable things, yet they are not at all ashamed, they know not how to blush. Hence they shall be among those who fall; in their time of punishment they shall go down, says the LORD.
16 Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see and ask for the old paths which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: we will not walk.	16 Thus says the LORD: Stand beside the earliest roads, ask the pathways of old Which is the way to good, and walk it; thus you will find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk it."
17 And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken.	17 When I raised up watchmen for them: "Hearken to the sound of the trumpet!" they said, "We will not hearken."
18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them.	18 Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O earth, what I will do with them:
19 Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law.	19 See, I bring evil upon this people, the fruit of their own schemes, Because they heeded not my words, because they despised my law.
20 To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.	20 Of what use to me incense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from far-off lands? Your holocausts find no favor with me, your sacrifices please me not.
21 Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbor and kinsman shall perish.	21 Therefore, thus says the LORD: See, I will place before this people obstacles to bring them down; Fathers and sons alike, neighbors and friends shall perish.
22 Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth.	22 Thus says the LORD: See, a people comes from the land of the north, a great nation, roused from the ends of the earth.
23 They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion.	23 Bow and javelin they wield; cruel and pitiless are they. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on steeds, Each in his place, for battle against you, daughter Zion.
24 We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor.	24 We hear the report of them; helpless fall our hands, Anguish takes hold of us, throes like a mother's in childbirth.
25 Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side.	25 Go not forth into the field, step not into the street, Beware of the enemy's sword; terror on every side!
26 Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.	26 O daughter of my people, gird on sackcloth, roll in the ashes. Mourn as for an only child with bitter wailing, For sudden upon us comes the destroyer.
27 I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way.	27 A tester among my people I have appointed you, to search and test their way.
28 All of these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted.	28 Arch-rebels are they all, dealers in slander, all of them corrupt.
29 The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed.	29 The bellows roars, the lead is consumed by the fire; In vain has the smelter refined, the wicked are not drawn off.
30 Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them.	30 "Silver rejected" they shall be called, for the LORD has rejected them.