Jeremiah 6:18-30

18So listen to me, all you nations. Look carefully! See what will happen to my people.

19Hear me, all people on the earth. I will cause great trouble for my people. I will punish them as a result of their wrong thoughts. They have not listened to my messages. They have turned against my law.

20They may offer to me sweet incense that comes from Sheba. But that does not please me. The spices that they bring from lands far away do not please me either. I will not accept the burnt offerings or other sacrifices that they offer to me.’

21So this is what the Lord says: ‘I will send troubles to make these people fall down. Fathers and their children will all fall to the ground. Their friends and their neighbours will die.’

22This is what the Lord says: ‘Look! An army is coming from the north. A great nation is preparing to attack you from a place that is far away.

23Its soldiers carry bows and spears as their weapons. They are always cruel and they are never kind. They ride into the battle on their horses, and it sounds like the noise of the sea. They are ready to attack you, people of Jerusalem.’

24The people say, ‘We have heard news about them, and we are very frightened. We feel too weak to fight. We are afraid and in pain, like a woman who is giving birth.

25Do not go out into the fields. Do not travel on the roads. Our enemies are everywhere. They have their swords ready to attack us. Danger is all around us.’

26So I say, ‘My dear people, show that you are sorry. Wear sackcloth and sit in ashes. Weep and cry aloud, as if your only child had died. Realize that the enemy's army will soon be here and they are ready to destroy us.’

27The Lord said to me, ‘I have sent you to test my people. Test them like someone tests metal. Watch them carefully, to see how they live.

28They have completely turned against God. They refuse to change their minds. They tell lies against people, and they cheat them.

29A very hot fire can remove the dirt from silver and make it pure. I punish my people to make them pure, but it is useless. There are too many wicked people, so I cannot make them pure.

30I, the Lord, cannot accept them, so they are like useless silver.’