Jeremiah 6:1-20 America Under Siege

Jer 6:1  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. 
Jer 6:2  I have likened daughter Zion to the loveliest pasture. 
Jer 6:3  Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her. They shall pitch their tents around her; they shall pasture, all in their places. 
Jer 6:4  'Prepare war against her; up, and let us attack at noon!' 'Woe to us, for the day declines, the shadows of evening lengthen!' 
Jer 6:5  'Up, and let us attack by night, and destroy her palaces!' 
Jer 6:6  For thus says the LORD 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. 
Jer 6:7  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. 
Jer 6:8  Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I shall turn from you in disgust, and make you a desolation, an uninhabited land. 
Jer 6:9  Thus says the LORD of hosts: Glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again over its branches. 
Jer 6:10  To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed, they cannot listen. The word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. 
Jer 6:11  But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; 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. 
Jer 6:12  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 LORD. 
Jer 6:13  For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 
Jer 6:14  They have treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace. 
Jer 6:15  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 LORD. 
Jer 6:16  Thus says the LORD: 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.' 
Jer 6:17  Also I raised up sentinels for you: 'Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not give heed.' 
Jer 6:18  Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. 
Jer 6:19  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. 
Jer 6:20  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. 
Jer 6:21  Therefore thus says the LORD: See, I am laying before this people stumbling-blocks against which they shall stumble; parents and children together, neighbour and friend shall perish. 
Jer 6:22  Thus says the LORD: See, a people is coming from the land of the north, a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth. 
Jer 6:23  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! 
Jer 6:24  'We have heard news of them, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labour. 
Jer 6:25  Do not go out into the field, or walk on the road; for the enemy has a sword, terror is on every side.' 
Jer 6:26  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. 
Jer 6:27  I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people so that you may know and test their ways. 
Jer 6:28  They are all stubbornly rebellious, going about with slanders; they are bronze and iron, all of them act corruptly. 
Jer 6:29  The bellows blow fiercely, the lead is consumed by the fire; in vain the refining goes on, for the wicked are not removed. 
Jer 6:30  They are called 'rejected silver', for the LORD has rejected them.