Jer 6, Jer 35 | ESV | STEP | Flee for safety , O people of Benjamin , from the midst of Jerusalem ! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa , and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem , for disaster looms out of the north , and great destruction .

1 Flee for safety, ^aO people of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in ^bTekoa,
and raise a signal on ^cBeth-haccherem,
for disaster looms ^dout of the north,
and great destruction.
2 The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
^ethe daughter of Zion. ^{▼▼Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture}
3 ^gShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
^hthey shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, each in his place.
4 ⁱ“Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us attack ^jat noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let us attack by night
and destroy her palaces!”
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts:
^k“Cut down her trees;
^lcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be ^mpunished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
7 ⁿAs a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil;
^oviolence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
^plest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you ^qa desolation,
an uninhabited land.”
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
^r“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches.”
10 ^sTo whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
^tBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,
^uthey cannot listen;
behold, ^vthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
^wI am weary of holding it in.
^x“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
^yboth husband and wife ^zshall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
12 ^aaTheir 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,”

declares the Lord.
13 ^ab“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone ^acis greedy for unjust gain;
and from ^adprophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ^ae‘Peace, peace,’
^afwhen there is no peace.
15 ^agWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
^ahat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”

says the Lord.
16 Thus says the Lord:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for ^aithe ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
^ajand find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 ^akI set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to ^althe sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ^am‘We will not pay attention.’
18 Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
^anthe fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
20 ^aoWhat use to me is ^apfrankincense that comes from ^aqSheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
^arYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
^as‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
22 Thus says the Lord:
^at“Behold, a people is coming ^aufrom the north country,
a great nation is stirring from ^avthe farthest parts of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are ^awcruel and have no mercy;
^axthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have heard the report of it;
^ayour hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
^azpain as of a woman in labor.
25 Go not out into the field,
nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
^baterror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, ^bbput on sackcloth,
and ^bcroll in ashes;
^bdmake mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27 “I have made you ^bea tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and ^bftest their ways.
28 ^bgThey are all stubbornly rebellious,
^bhgoing about with slanders;
they are ^bibronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
29 The ^bjbellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
^bkin vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
30 ^blRejected silver they are called,
for the Lord has rejected them.”

Jeremiah 35

The Obedience of the Rechabites

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^bmJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Go to the house of the ^bnRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^bothe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” 3 So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. 4 I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^bpthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^bqthe man of God, which was near ^brthe chamber of the officials, above ^bsthe chamber of ^btMaaseiah the son of Shallum, ^bukeeper of the threshold. 5 Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” 6 But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^bvJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. 7 You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^bwthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, 9 and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, 10 but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But ^bxwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^bythe army of the Chaldeans and ^bzthe army of the Syrians.’ ^caSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^cbWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. 14 The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you ^ccpersistently, but you have not listened to me. 15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^cdpersistently, saying, ^ce‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^cfdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^cgBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. 16 The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^chbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^ciI have called to them and they have not answered.”

18 But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, 19 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^cjto stand before me.”