Jeremiah 6

ha'izu bene vinyamin miqqerev yerushalai͏m uvitqoa tiqu shofar ve'al-bet hakkerem se'u maset ki ra'ah nishqefah mitsafon veshever gadol

Flee for refuge, O people of Benjamin, Out of the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the horn in Tekoa, Set up a signal at Beth-haccerem! For evil is appearing from the north, And great disaster.

hannavah vehamme'unnagah damiti bat-tsiyyon

Fair Zion, the lovely and delicate, I will destroy.

eleha yavo'u ro'im ve'edrehem taqe'u aleha ohalim saviv ra'u ish et-yado

Against her come shepherds with their flocks, They pitch tents all around her; Each grazes the sheep under his care.

qaddeshu aleha milkhamah qumu vena'aleh vatsohorayim oy lanu ki-fanah hayyom ki yinnatu tsille-arev

Prepare for battle against her: “Up! we will attack at noon.” “Alas for us! for day is declining, The shadows of evening grow long.”

qumu vena'aleh vallayelah venashkhitah armenoteha

“Up! let us attack by night, And wreck her fortresses.”

ki khoh amar Adonai tseva'ot kirtu etsah veshifkhu al-yerushalai͏m solelah hi ha'ir hofqad kullah osheq beqirbah

For thus said GOD of Hosts: Hew down her trees, And raise a siege mound against Jerusalem. She is the city destined for punishment; Only fraud is found in her midst.

kehaqir (vvr) [bayir] memeha ken heqerah ra'atah khamas vashod yishama bah al-panay tamid kholi umakkah

As a well flows with water, So she flows with wickedness. Lawlessness and rapine are heard in her; Before Me constantly are sickness and wounds.

hivvaseri yerushalai͏m pen-teqa nafshi mimmekh pen-asimekh shemamah erets lo noshavah

Accept rebuke, O Jerusalem, Lest I come to loathe you, Lest I make you a desolation, An uninhabited land.

koh amar Adonai tseva'ot olel ye'olelu khaggefen she'erit yisra'el hashev yadekha kevotser al-salsillot

Thus said GOD of Hosts: Let them glean over and over, as a vine, The remnant of Israel. Pass your hand again, Like a vintager, Over its branches.

al-mi adabberah ve'a'idah veyishma'u hinneh arelah oznam velo yukhelu lehaqshiv hinneh devar-Adonai hayah lahem lekherpah lo yakhpetsu-vo

To whom shall I speak, Give warning that they may hear? Their ears are blocked And they cannot listen. See, the word of GOD has become for them An object of scorn; they will have none of it.

ve'et khamat Adonai maleti nileti hakhil shefokh al-olal bakhuts ve'al sod bakhurim yakhdav ki-gam-ish im-isha yillakhedu zaqen im-mele yamim

But I am filled with GOD’s wrath, I cannot hold it in. Pour it on the infant in the street, And on the company of youths gathered together! Yes, men and women alike shall be captured, Elders and those of advanced years.

venasabbu vattehem la'akherim sadot venashim yakhdav ki-atteh et-yadi al-yosheve ha'arets ne'um-Adonai

Their houses shall pass to others, Fields and wives as well, For I will stretch out My arm Against the inhabitants of the country —declares GOD.

ki miqqetannam ve'ad-gedolam kullo botsea batsa uminnavi ve'ad-kohen kullo oseh shaqer

For from the smallest to the greatest, They are all greedy for gain; Priest and prophet alike, They all act falsely.

vayerappe'u et-shever ammi al-neqallah lemor shalom shalom ve'en shalom

They offer healing offhand For the wounds of My people, Saying, “All is well, all is well,” When nothing is well.

hovishu ki to'evah asu gam-bosh lo-yevoshu gam-hakhlim lo yada'u lakhen yippelu vannofelim be'et-peqadtim yikkashelu amar Adonai

They have acted shamefully; They have done abhorrent things— Yet they do not feel shame, And they cannot be made to blush. Assuredly, they shall fall among the falling, They shall stumble at the time when I punish them —said GOD.

koh amar Adonai imdu al-derakhim ure'u vesha'alu lintivot olam e-zeh derekh hattov ulekhu-vah umitsu margoa lenafshekhem vayyomeru lo nelekh

Thus said GOD: Stand by the roads and consider, Inquire about ancient paths: Which is the road to happiness? Travel it, and find tranquility for yourselves. But they said, “We will not.”

vahaqimoti alekhem tsofim haqshivu leqol shofar vayyomeru lo naqshiv

And I raised up lookouts for you: “Hearken to the sound of the horn!” But they said, “We will not.”

lakhen shimu haggoyim ude'i edah et-asher-bam

Hear well, O nations, And know, O community, what is in store for them.

shimi ha'arets hinneh anokhi mevi ra'ah el-ha'am hazzeh peri makhshevotam ki al-devaray lo hiqshivu vetorati vayyimasu-vah

Hear, O earth! I am going to bring disaster upon this people, The outcome of their own schemes; For they would not hearken to My words, And they rejected My Instruction.

lammah-zzeh li levonah misheva tavo veqaneh hattov me'erets merkhaq olotekhem lo leratson vezivkhekhem lo-arevu li

What need have I of frankincense That comes from Sheba, Or fragrant cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.

lakhen koh amar Adonai hinni noten el-ha'am hazzeh mikhsholim vekhashelu vam avot uvanim yakhdav shakhen vere'o (yvdv) [ve'avadu]

Assuredly, thus said GOD: I shall put before this people stumbling blocks Over which they shall stumble— Parents and children alike, Neighbor and friend shall perish.

koh amar Adonai hinneh am ba me'erets tsafon vegoy gadol ye'or miyyarkete-arets

Thus said GOD: See, a people comes from the northland, A great nation is roused From the remotest parts of the earth.

qeshet vekhidon yakhaziqu akhzari hu velo yerakhemu qolam kayyam yehemeh ve'al-susim yirkavu arukh ke'ish lammilkhamah alayikh bat-tsiyyon

They grasp the bow and javelin; They are cruel, they show no mercy; The sound of them is like the roaring sea. They ride upon horses, Accoutered like a man for battle, Against you, O Fair Zion!

shamanu et-shomo rafu yadenu tsarah hekheziqatnu khil kayyoledah

“We have heard the report of them, Our hands fail; Pain seizes us, Agony like a woman in childbirth.

al-[tetse'u] (ttsy) hassadeh uvadderekh al-[telekhu] (tlkhy) ki kherev le'oyev magor missaviv

Do not go out into the country, Do not walk the roads! For the sword of the enemy is there, Terror on every side.”

bat-ammi khigri-saq vehitpalleshi va'efer evel yakhid asi lakh mispad tamrurim ki fitom yavo hashoded alenu

My poor people, Put on sackcloth And strew dust on yourselves! Mourn, as for an only child; Wail bitterly, For suddenly the destroyer Is coming upon us.

bakhon netattikha ve'ammi mivtsar veteda uvakhanta et-darkam

I have made you an assayer of My people —A refiner— You are to note and assay their ways.

kullam sare sorerim holekhe rakhil nekhoshet uvarzel kullam mashkhitim hemmah

They are copper and iron: They are all stubbornly defiant; They deal basely All of them act corruptly.

nakhar mappuakh (mshtm) [me'esh tam] ofaret lashav tsaraf tsarof vera'im lo nittaqu

The bellows puff; The lead is consumed by fire. Yet the smelter smelts to no purpose— The dross is not separated out.

kesef nimas qare'u lahem ki-ma'as Adonai bahem

They are called “rejected silver,” For GOD has rejected them.