4“Prepare war against her;
         Arise, and let us attack at noon.
         Woe to us, for the day declines,
         For the shadows of the evening lengthen!

5“Arise, and let us attack by night
         And destroy her palaces!”

6For thus says the LORD of hosts,
         “Cut down her trees
         And cast up a siege against Jerusalem.
         This is the city to be punished,
         In whose midst there is only oppression.

7“As a well keeps its waters fresh,
         So she keeps fresh her wickedness.
         Violence and destruction are heard in her;
         Sickness and wounds are ever before Me.

8“Be warned, O Jerusalem,
         Or I shall be alienated from you,
         And make you a desolation,
         A land not inhabited.”

9Thus says the LORD of hosts,
         “They will thoroughly glean as the vine the remnant of Israel;
         Pass your hand again like a grape gatherer
         Over the branches.”

10To whom shall I speak and give warning
         That they may hear?
         Behold, their ears are closed
         And they cannot listen.
         Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them;
         They have no delight in it.

11But I am full of the wrath of the LORD;
         I am weary with holding it in.
         “Pour it out on the children in the street
         And on the gathering of young men together;
         For both husband and wife shall be taken,
         The aged and the very old.

12“Their houses shall be turned over to others,
         Their fields and their wives together;
         For I will stretch out My hand
         Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD.

13“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
         Everyone is greedy for gain,
         And from the prophet even to the priest
         Everyone deals falsely.

14“They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
         Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
         But there is no peace.

15“Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?
         They were not even ashamed at all;
         They did not even know how to blush.
         Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
         At the time that I punish them,
         They shall be cast down,” says the LORD.

16Thus says the LORD,
         “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
         Where the good way is, and walk in it;
         And you will find rest for your souls.
         But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

17“And I set watchmen over you, saying,
         ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
         But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

18“Therefore hear, O nations,
         And know, O congregation, what is among them.

19“Hear, O earth: behold, I am bringing disaster on this people,
         The fruit of their plans,
         Because they have not listened to My words,
         And as for My law, they have rejected it also.

20“For what purpose does frankincense come to Me from Sheba
         And the sweet cane from a distant land?
         Your burnt offerings are not acceptable
         And your sacrifices are not pleasing to Me.”

21Therefore, thus says the LORD,
         “Behold, I am laying stumbling blocks before this people.
         And they will stumble against them,
         Fathers and sons together;
         Neighbor and friend will perish.”

The Enemy from the North

22Thus says the LORD,
         “Behold, a people is coming from the north land,
         And a great nation will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

23“They seize bow and spear;
         They are cruel and have no mercy;
         Their voice roars like the sea,
         And they ride on horses,
         Arrayed as a man for the battle
         Against you, O daughter of Zion!”

24We have heard the report of it;
         Our hands are limp.
         Anguish has seized us,
         Pain as of a woman in childbirth.

25Do not go out into the field
         And do not walk on the road,
         For the enemy has a sword,
         Terror is on every side.

26O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth
         And roll in ashes;
         Mourn as for an only son,
         A lamentation most bitter.
         For suddenly the destroyer
         Will come upon us.

27“I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people,
         That you may know and assay their way.”

28All of them are stubbornly rebellious,
         Going about as a talebearer.
         They are bronze and iron;
         They, all of them, are corrupt.

29The bellows blow fiercely,
         The lead is consumed by the fire;
         In vain the refining goes on,
         But the wicked are not separated.

30They call them rejected silver,
         Because the LORD has rejected them.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Shepherds and their flocks will come to her, They will pitch their tents around her, They will pasture each in his place.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
With their flocks, shepherds will come to them, pitch their tents all around them, and each of them will tend his own flock.

King James Bible
The 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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand.

Darby Bible Translation
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.

English Revised Version
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her on every side; they shall feed every one in his place.

World English Bible
Shepherds with their flocks shall come to her; they shall pitch their tents against her all around; they shall feed everyone in his place."

Young's Literal Translation
Unto her come do shepherds and their droves, They have stricken tents by her round about, They have fed each in his own station.

Cross References

Luke 19:43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

2 Kings 25:1 Now in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it and built a siege wall all around it.

Jeremiah 4:17 'Like watchmen of a field they are against her round about, Because she has rebelled against Me,' declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 12:10 "Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 6

In this chapter, as before, we have, I. A prophecy of the invading of the land of Judah and the besieging of Jerusalem by the Chaldean army (v. 1-6), with the spoils they should make of the country (v. 9) and the terror which all should be seized with on that occasion (v. 22-26). II. An account of those sins of Judah and Jerusalem which provoked God to bring this desolating judgment upon them. Their oppression (v. 7), their contempt of the word of God (v. 10-12), their worldliness (v. 13), the treachery of their prophets (v. 14), their impudence in sin (v. 15), their obstinacy against reproofs (v. 18, 19), which made their sacrifices unacceptable to him (v. 20), and for which he gave them up to ruin (v. 21), but tried them first (v. 27) and then rejected them as irreclaimable (v. 28-30). III. Good counsel given them in the midst of all this, but in vain (v. 8, 16, 17).

Verses 1-8

Here is I. Judgment threatened against Judah and Jerusalem. The city and the country were at this time secure and under no apprehension of danger; they saw no cloud gathering, but every thing looked safe and serene: but the prophet tells them that they shall shortly be invaded by a foreign power, an army shall be brought against them from the north, which shall lay all waste, and shall cause not only a general consternation, but a general desolation. It is here foretold,

1. That the alarm of this should be loud and terrible. This is represented, v. 1. The children of Benjamin, in which tribe part of Jerusalem lay, are here called to shift for their own safety in the country; for the city (to which it was first thought advisable for them to flee, ch. 4:5, 6) would soon be made too hot for them, and they would find it the wisest course to flee out of the midst of it. It is common, in public frights, for the people to think any place safer than that in which they are; and therefore those in the city are for shifting into the country, in hopes there to escape out of danger, and those in the country are for shifting into the city, in hopes there to make head against the danger; but it is all in vain when evil pursues sinners with commission. They are told to send the alarm into the country, and to do what they can for their own safety: Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, a city which lay twelve miles north from Jerusalem. Let them be stirred up to stand upon their guard: Set up a sign of fire (that is, kindle the beacons) in Beth-haccerem, the house of the vineyard, which lay on a hill between Jerusalem and Tekoa. Prepare to make a vigorous resistance, for the evil appears out of the north. This may be taken ironically: "Betake yourselves to the best methods you can think of for your own preservation, but all shall be in vain; for, when you have done your best, it will be a great destruction, for it is in vain to contend with God's judgments."

2. That the attempt upon them should be bold and formidable and such as they should be a very unequal match for. (1.) See what the daughter of Zion is, on whom the assault is made. She is compared to a comely and delicate woman (v. 2), bred up in every thing that is nice and soft, that will not set so much as the sole of her foot to the ground for tenderness and delicacy (Deu. 28:56), nor suffer the wind to blow upon her; and, not being accustomed to hardship, she will be the less able either to resist the enemy (for those that make war must endure hardness) or to bear the destruction with that patience which is necessary to make it tolerable. The more we indulge ourselves in the pleasures of this life the more we disfit ourselves for the troubles of this life. (2.) See what the daughter of Babylon is, by whom the assault is made. The generals and their armies are compared to shepherds and their flocks (v. 3), in such numbers and in such order did they come, the soldiers following their leaders as the sheep their shepherds. The daughter of Zion dwelt at home (so some read it), expecting to be courted with love, but was invaded with fury. This comparing of the enemies to shepherds inclines me to embrace another reading, which some give of v. 2, The daughter of Zion is like a comely pasture-ground and a delicate land, which invite the shepherds to bring their flocks thither to graze; and as the shepherds easily make themselves masters of an open field, which (as was then usual in some parts) lies common, owned by none, pitch their tents in it, and their flocks quickly eat it bare, so shall the Chaldean army easily break in upon the land of Judah, force for themselves a free quarter where they please, and in a little time devour all. For the further illustration of this he shows, [1.] How God shall commission them to make this destruction even of the holy land and the holy city, which were his own possession. It is he that says (v. 4), Prepare you war against her; for he is the Lord of hosts, that has all hosts at his command, and he has said (v. 6), Hew you down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem, in order to the attacking of it. The Chaldeans have great power against Judah and Jerusalem, and yet they have no power but what is given them from above. God has marked out Jerusalem for destruction. He has said, "This is the city to be visited, visited in wrath, visited by the divine justice, and this is the time of her visitation." The day is coming when those that are careless and secure in sinful ways will certainly be visited. [2.] How they shall animate themselves and one another to execute that commission. God's counsels being against Jerusalem, which cannot be altered or disannulled, the councils of war which the enemies held are made to agree with his counsels. God having said, Prepare war against her, their determinations are made subservient to his; and, notwithstanding the distance of place and the many difficulties that lay in the way, it is soon resolved, nemine contradicente-unanimously. Arise, and let us go. Note, It is good to see how the counsel and decree of God are pursued and executed in the devices and designs of men, even theirs that know him not, Isa. 10:6, 7. In this campaign, First, They resolve to be very expeditious. They have no sooner resolved upon it than they address themselves to it; it shall never be said that they left any thing to be done towards it to-morrow which they could do to-day: Arise, let us go up at noon, though it be in the heat of the day; nay, (v. 5), Arise, let us go up at night, though it be in the dark. Nothing shall hinder them; they are resolved to lose no time. They are described as men in care to make despatch (v. 4): "Woe unto us, for the day goes away, and we are not going on with our work; the shadows of the evening are stretched out, and we sit still, and let slip the opportunity." O that we were thus eager in our spiritual work and warfare, thus afraid of losing time, or any opportunity, in taking the kingdom of heaven by violence! It is folly to trifle when we have an eternal salvation to work out, and the enemies of that salvation to fight against. Secondly, They confidently expect to be very successful: "Let us go up, and let us destroy her palaces and make ourselves masters of the wealth that is in them." It was not that they might fulfill God's counsels, but that they might fill their own treasures, that they were thus eager; yet God thereby served his own purposes.

II. The cause of this judgment assigned. It is all for their wickedness; they have brought it upon themselves; they must bear it, for they must bear the blame of it. They are thus oppressed because they have been oppressors; they have dealt hardly with one another, each in his turn, as they have had power and advantage, and now the enemy shall come and deal hardly with them all. This sin of oppression, and violence, and wrong-doing, is here charged upon them, 1. As a national sin (v. 6): Therefore this city is to be visited, it is time to make inquisition, for she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. All orders and degrees of men, from the prince on the throne to the meanest master of a shop, were oppressive to those that were under them. Look which way you might, there were causes for complaints of this kind. 2. As a sin that had become in a manner natural to them (v. 7): She casts out wickedness, in all the instances of malice and mischievousness, as a fountain casts out her waters, so plentifully and constantly, the streams bitter and poisonous, like the fountain. The waters out of the fountain will not be restrained, but will find or force their way, nor will they be checked by laws or conscience in their violent proceedings. This is fitly applied to the corrupt heart of man in his natural state; it casts out wickedness, one evil imagination or other, as a fountain casts out her waters, naturally and easily; it is always flowing, and yet always full. 3. As that which had become a constant practice with them; Violence and spoil are heard in her. The cry of it had come up before God as that of Sodom: Before me continually are grief and wounds-the complaint of those that find themselves aggrieved, being unjustly wounded in their bodies or spirits, in their estates or reputation. Note, He that is the common Parent of mankind regards and resents, and sooner or later will revenge, the mischiefs and wrongs that men do to one another.

III. The counsel given them how to prevent this judgment. Fair warning is given now upon the whole matter: "Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem! v. 8. Receive the instruction given thee both by the law of God and by the prophets; be wise at length for thyself." They knew very well what they had been instructed to do; nothing remained but to do it, for till then they could not be said to be instructed. The reason for this counsel is taken from the inevitable ruin they ran upon if they refused to comply with the instructions given them: Lest my soul depart, or be disjoined, from thee. This intimates what a tender affection and concern God had had for them; his very soul had been joined to them, and nothing but sin could disjoin it. Note, 1. The God of mercy is loth to depart even from a provoking people, and is earnest with them by true repentance and reformation to prevent things coming to that extremity. 2. Their case is very miserable from whom God's soul is disjoined; it intimates the loss not only of their outward blessings, but of those comforts and favours which are the more immediate and peculiar tokens of his love and presence. Compare this with that dreadful word (Heb. 10:38), If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 3. Those whom God forsakes are certainly undone; when God's soul departs from Jerusalem she soon becomes desolate and uninhabited, Mt. 23:38.

Calvin's Commentary

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

2. Quietae (alii vertunt, speciosam; sed alter sensus melius quadrat, quietae igitur) et delicatae similem feci filiam Sion.

3. The 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.

3. Super eam venient pastores et greges eorum, figent adversus eam tabernecula sua in circuitu; pascent vir ad manum suam (hoc est, quisque ad locum suum).

As the place, where the Prophet was born, was pastoral, he retained many expressions derived from his education; for God did not divest his servants of every natural endowment when he appointed them to teach his people. Hence the Prophet here speaks according to notions imbibed in his early age and childhood. The daughter of Sion, he says, is like a quiet maid, that is, one dwelling at leisure and enjoying herself; and yet she would be exposed to many indignities, for come shall shepherds, and around fix their tents; and the whole country would be subjected to plunder. But it is doubtful whether the Prophet says, that the daughter of Sion might be compared to a maid, tender and delicate, dwelling at ease and cheerful, or whether he means, that rest had been for a time granted to the people. There seems, indeed, to be no great difference, though there is some, between the two explanations.

If we take the verb, dmyty, damiti, in the sense of comparing, as interpreters do, then it is the same as though the Prophet had said, "I seem to see in the state of Jerusalem the image of a tender and delicate maid." Thus Jeremiah speaks in his own name. But the sentence may be more fitly applied to God, -- that he had made the daughter of Sion quiet for a time, and had given her peace with her enemies, so that she lived at ease and cheerfully.

Though these two views differ, yet the subject itself is nearly the same. The Prophet, no doubt, condemns here the Jews for their extreme torpidity, inasmuch as they had wholly misapplied the quietness granted them by God. He then proves that they were very thoughtless and stupid in thinking that their tranquillity would be perpetual, for it was God's favor, and only for a time. Hence he says, that the Jews were until that very day like a tender maid. For though the country of the ten tribes had been laid waste, and all had been driven away into exile, yet the kingdom of Judah continued safe. They had, indeed, been plundered by enemies, but in comparison with their brethren they had been very kindly treated. This, then, is the reason, why he says that they were like a maid delicate and tender. [163]

But he afterwards adds, Come shall shepherds, etc.; that is, there is no ground for the Jews to deceive themselves, because God has hitherto spared them, and restrained the assaults of enemies; for now shall come shepherds. He keeps to the same metaphor; "come, "he says, "shall shepherds, "together with their flocks; that is, come shall leaders of armies with their forces. But I have already reminded you, that the Prophet here has a regard to the city where he had been born, and adopts a pastoral language. Come then shall shepherds with their flocks; fix shall they their tents, and feed shall each in his place, he means that the whole of Jerusalem would be so much in the power of enemies, that each one would freely choose his own part or his own portion; for when there is any fear, then the shepherds gather their flocks, that they may assist one another; but when everything is in their own power, they move here and there as they please. This free acting then intimates, that the Jews would have no strength, and would be helped by no aid; but that the shepherds would surround the whole city and besiege it: every one, he says, would be in his own place. [164] It follows --

Footnotes:

[163] Calvin, with our version, has followed the Vulgate and the Syriac in this verse. Both the Septuagint and the Targum are widely different. The former have, "And taken away shall be thy height, daughter of Sion;" the latter, "Fair and delicate, how hast thou corrupted thy ways? Therefore confounded is the assembly of Sion." The Arabic is the same with the Septuagint, only it has "pride" instead of "height" (thoupsos) Some have viewed the two first words as substantives, and have rendered the verse thus, -- To a pasture and a delightful habitation Have I likened the daughter of Sion. Disposed to this view were Gataker and Lowth. But what Blayney has said is true, that whenever the verb here used has the sense of likeness, it is followed by a preposition. Besides, the two first words are not substantives but adjectives, as the form, especially of the last, clearly shews. The verb dmytyhas in various passages the sense of thinking, counting, esteeming, regarding; as the result of comparing things together. See Judges 20:5; Esther 4:13; Psalm 48:9. There is a passage in Ezekiel 32:2, which is like the present, only the verb there is in Niphal; its literal rendering I consider to be the following: "The young lion of the nations art thou deemed," or, thought to be. The literal rendering of this verse is as follows, -- Home-resident and delicate, Have I deemed the daughter of Sion. She was so regarded by God. Not like other nations, migratory, she had a home allotted to her by God himself; and she was nursed and sustained with all tenderness, like a delicate person. But owing to her sins, foreigners, as stated in the next verse, would come and take possession of her house, and deprive her of her enjoyments. -- Ed.

[164] There is evidently a vor a y wanted before the second verb in this verse. The Septuagint and the Syriac read with v, and the Targum with y. The same is the case with the third verb, rv; but there are two MSS. which have the vhere, with which the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Targum agree. Then the version would be, -- To her shall come shepherds and their flocks, And pitch by her their tents around, And they shall feed, every one in his border. "To pitch against her" seems improper: the proposition lmeans by or near, as well as against. And yddoes not mean properly place, but side or border. It is indeed rendered place often in our version. See Numbers 2:17; Deuteronomy 23:12; Isaiah 56:5, 11; and in Isaiah 57:8, "quarter." The ancient versions differ; the word seems not to have been understood. It is rendered by the Septuagint, "by his hand;" by the Vulgate, "those under his hand;" and by the Targum, "his neighbor." -- Ed

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Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament