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Jerusalem Under Siege
6:1 O 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 Bethhaccerem: for evil
appeareth out of the north, and great destruction.
6:2 I have likened the daughter of Zion to a comely and
delicate woman.
6:3 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.
6:4 Prepare 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.
6:5 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her
palaces.
6:6 For 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.
6:7 As 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.
6:8 Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart
from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
6:9 Thus 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.
6:10 To 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.
6:11 Therefore 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.
6:12 And 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.
6:13 For 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.
6:14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my
people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace.
6:15 Were 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.
6:16 Thus 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.
6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the
sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
6:18 Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation,
what is among them.
6:19 Hear, 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.
6:20 To 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.
6:21 Therefore 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.
6:22 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, a people cometh from the
north country, and a great nation shall be raised from the
sides of the earth.
6:23 They 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.
6:24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble:
anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in
travail.
6:25 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for
the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side.
6:26 O 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.
6:27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my
people, that thou mayest know and try their way.
6:28 They are all grievous revolters, walking with
slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
6:29 The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed of the
fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not
plucked away.
6:30 Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD
hath rejected them. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
