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Jeremiah 6

KJV · Chapter 6/52

1O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth–haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.

2I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman.

3The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed every one in his place.

4Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us! for the day goeth away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out.

5Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her palaces.

6For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

7As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

8Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

9Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.

10To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.

11Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

12And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.

13For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

14They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

15Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.

16Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

17Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

18Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them.

19Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

20To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.

21Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

22Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth.

23They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

24We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

25Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.

26O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation: for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us.

27I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.

28They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.

29The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away.

30Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God announces an army coming from the north to surround Jerusalem, comparing the city to a beautiful woman who will be destroyed because her prophets and priests proclaim false peace.

Explanation

The repeated refrain 'Peace, peace; when there is no peace' is one of the strongest accusations against false prophets in the whole Bible: reassuring people when real danger is near is a serious form of spiritual betrayal. The image of 'seeking the old paths' is an invitation to return to proven practices of faithfulness, instead of following novelty that merely pleases on the surface. The chapter also brings a rich metaphor: God as a metal refiner who tests the purity of silver but finds only 'dross' — the people can no longer be purified by simple warning, and judgment becomes inevitable.

Fun facts

  • Tekoa and Beth-haccerem were high points used for smoke and trumpet signals in wartime, a real military practice of the period.
  • The refining metaphor (separating silver from dross) was a well-known technology in the ancient world, used here to illustrate the people's moral judgment.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremiah 6:1Tekoa and Beth-haccerem were towns just a few miles south of Jerusalem: the alarm is being sounded very close to home, not in some distant land. It is the most concrete warning yet that the attack is coming from the north and is nearly at the capital.
  2. Jeremiah 6:2Jerusalem, called ‘the daughter of Zion,’ is compared to a lovely and refined woman - an image that will soon contrast sharply with the violence of the approaching invasion.
  3. Jeremiah 6:3Uses the image of shepherds pitching camp around Jerusalem as an ironic metaphor for the enemy armies surrounding the city, each one occupying its own section of the siege.
  4. Jeremiah 6:4These are the voices of the attackers themselves, eager to invade while it is still day, but frustrated because the afternoon is fading - so they decide to attack at night in the next verse.
  5. Jeremiah 6:5The enemies' speech continues as they plan the attack, this time deciding to invade at night to destroy Jerusalem's palaces without further delay.
  6. Jeremiah 6:6God commands the building of siege ramps with cut timber against Jerusalem, a real military technique of the time, because the city is full of oppression and deserves judgment.
  7. Jeremiah 6:7Compares Jerusalem to a spring, except that instead of good water, what pours out of it endlessly is violence and wickedness - a constant problem, not a one-time mistake.
  8. Jeremiah 6:8There is still one final appeal to repentance before the destruction: God warns that all that remains is for Him to finally turn away, and the city will become a wasteland.
  9. Jeremiah 6:9Uses the image of grape harvesting: just as the grape-gatherer passes back over the vine so as not to leave a single cluster behind, the enemy will come back to gather up even the last survivors of Israel.
  10. Jeremiah 6:10Jeremiah complains that he has no one left to speak to: the people have reached the point of treating God's very word as something shameful, a target for mockery instead of respect.
  11. Jeremiah 6:11Jeremiah describes the weight of carrying God's anger, which will strike everyone without exception of age or status - children, couples, the elderly, no one will escape the invasion.
  12. Jeremiah 6:12Describes the total loss the conquest brings: houses, land, and even families pass into the hands of the invaders, a direct consequence of God's judgment on the land.
  13. Jeremiah 6:13Corruption is described as total: from the least to the greatest, from prophets to priests, all prefer greed and lies - no one is left out of the accusation.
  14. Jeremiah 6:14Peace, peace is the most repeated phrase in the book (it returns in 8:11), describing the soothing message of the false prophets and priests. They covered up the real problem instead of solving it, offering cheap comfort before Jerusalem's fall.
  15. Jeremiah 6:15The problem is not just sinning, it is having completely lost the ability to feel shame about it - a sign that the people's moral conscience no longer works.
  16. Jeremiah 6:16God invites the people to return to the old, proven paths of the covenant, promising rest - but the people's answer is a plain, direct refusal.
  17. Jeremiah 6:17The watchmen are the prophets, set by God to warn of danger like a guard sounding an alarm - but the people refuse to pay attention to the warnings.
  18. Jeremiah 6:18God calls even foreign nations to witness the judgment coming on Judah - the case is so serious that it becomes a public example for other peoples.
  19. Jeremiah 6:19God summons the earth itself as a witness, saying the disaster that is coming is the direct fruit of the people's own thoughts and plans, the natural consequence of ignoring His word.
  20. Jeremiah 6:20Even sacrifices made with the costliest ingredients, like incense imported from Sheba, do not please God when they come from a people that does not live according to the covenant.
  21. Jeremiah 6:21God warns He will put obstacles in the people's path, striking families and neighbors together - no one will escape the collective consequences of sin alone.
  22. Jeremiah 6:22Repeats the book's central warning: the danger comes from the north, a direct reference to Babylon, which is rising up as a military power.
  23. Jeremiah 6:23Describes the Babylonian army as relentless and heavily armed, mounted and organized to attack specifically Jerusalem, called here ‘the daughter of Zion.’
  24. Jeremiah 6:24Now it is the voice of the people themselves reacting in dread just from hearing about the enemy army's reputation - the fear is compared to labor pains, sharp and involuntary.
  25. Jeremiah 6:25A practical warning in the middle of the panic: it is no longer safe even to leave the house, because the enemy's danger is everywhere around the cities.
  26. Jeremiah 6:26God calls the people to a mourning as great as the loss of an only child, the greatest possible grief in that culture, because destruction is about to arrive.
  27. Jeremiah 6:27God compares Jeremiah to someone testing molten metal to separate what is worthwhile from what is not - except the result of the test is that the whole people comes out as rejected silver, with no purity left at all. It is an image of judgment, not successful purification.
  28. Jeremiah 6:28Continues describing the people as extremely stubborn and resistant to any correction, unable to accept the discipline God is trying to apply.
  29. Jeremiah 6:29Uses the image of a failed metal-refining process: no matter how much fire is used to try to separate the good metal from the impure, the wicked remain mixed in with the people, never removed.
  30. Jeremiah 6:30Closes the chapter with the same metallurgical test image: the result of the test is that the whole people comes out as worthless silver, rejected by God after failing the test.

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