Study

a Bible passage

Click a verse to see commentary

Select a resource above

The Imminence and Horror of the Invasion

Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,

and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem;

for evil looms out of the north,

and great destruction.

I have likened daughter Zion

to the loveliest pasture.

Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her.

They shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, all in their places.

“Prepare war against her;

up, and let us attack at noon!”

“Woe to us, for the day declines,

the shadows of evening lengthen!”

“Up, and let us attack by night,

and destroy her palaces!”

For thus says the L ord of hosts:

Cut down her trees;

cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be punished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

As a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her wickedness;

violence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

Take warning, O Jerusalem,

or I shall turn from you in disgust,

and make you a desolation,

an uninhabited land.

Thus says the L ord of hosts:

Glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again

over its branches.

To whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

See, their ears are closed,

they cannot listen.

The word of the L ord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

But I am full of the wrath of the L ord;

I am weary of holding it in.

Pour it out on the children in the street,

and on the gatherings of young men as well;

both husband and wife shall be taken,

the old folk and the very aged.

Their houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together;

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,

says the L ord.

For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

and from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,

saying, “Peace, peace,”

when there is no peace.

They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;

yet they were not ashamed,

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,

says the L ord.

Thus says the L ord:

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way lies; and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.

But they said, “We will not walk in it.”

Also I raised up sentinels for you:

“Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!”

But they said, “We will not give heed.”

Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people,

the fruit of their schemes,

because they have not given heed to my words;

and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.

Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

Therefore thus says the L ord:

See, I am laying before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

parents and children together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.

Thus says the L ord:

See, a people is coming from the land of the north,

a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

They grasp the bow and the javelin,

they are cruel and have no mercy,

their sound is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

equipped like a warrior for battle,

against you, O daughter Zion!

“We have heard news of them,

our hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

pain as of a woman in labor.

Do not go out into the field,

or walk on the road;

for the enemy has a sword,

terror is on every side.”

O my poor people, put on sackcloth,

and roll in ashes;

make mourning as for an only child,

most bitter lamentation:

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people

so that you may know and test their ways.

They are all stubbornly rebellious,

going about with slanders;

they are bronze and iron,

all of them act corruptly.

The bellows blow fiercely,

the lead is consumed by the fire;

in vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

They are called “rejected silver,”

for the L ord has rejected them.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

He afterwards adds, Arise ye, and let us ascend in the night; that is, “As we cannot take the city in six hours, (from mid-day to night were six hours, for they divided the day into twelve hours, and the first hour began at the rising of the sun, and the twelfth hour closed the day,) as then we cannot take the city in six hours, let us attack it in the night.” We see here how graphically is described the extreme ardor of their enemies; for they were urged on by the hidden power of God; and this is what Jeremiah intended to express. ¹⁶⁵¹⁶⁵     These two verses seem to have been the language of the enemies on their march towards Jerusalem. When men go to a chief city from any quarter, it is always ascending. When on their march, they encouraged one another to ascend by mid-day, as ב may be rendered, but the day declined before they reached the city; then they encouraged each other to continue their march in the night, —
   Proclaim ye against her war: Rise, and let us ascend by mid-day. — Alas for us! for declined has the day, For extended have become the shadows of the evening: Arise, and let us ascend by night, And destroy her palaces.
   The last word is rendered “foundations” by the Septuagint, — “houses” by the Vulgate, — and “palaces” by the Targum. This is an instance of the loose way in which the versions were often made.
   To “sanctify war,“ is not to prepare it, but to proclaim it, as Calvin says, by a solemn ceremony. — Ed. He afterwards adds —

¹⁶⁵ These two verses seem to have been the language of the enemies on their march towards Jerusalem. When men go to a chief city from any quarter, it is always ascending. When on their march, they encouraged one another to ascend by mid-day, as ב may be rendered, but the day declined before they reached the city; then they encouraged each other to continue their march in the night, — Proclaim ye against her war: Rise, and let us ascend by mid-day. — Alas for us! for declined has the day, For extended have become the shadows of the evening: Arise, and let us ascend by night, And destroy her palaces. The last word is rendered “foundations” by the Septuagint, — “houses” by the Vulgate, — and “palaces” by the Targum. This is an instance of the loose way in which the versions were often made. To “sanctify war,“ is not to prepare it, but to proclaim it, as Calvin says, by a solemn ceremony. — Ed.