Jeremiah 6:22-30

22This is what the Lord says: “Behold, there is 1a people coming from the north land, And a great nation will be stirred up from the 2remote parts of the earth.23They seize 3bow and spear; They are 4cruel and have no mercy; Their voice 5roars like the sea, And they ride on horses, Lined up as a man for the battle Against you, daughter of Zion!”24We have 6heard the report of it; Our hands are limp. 7Anguish has seized us, Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.258Do not go out into the field, And 9do not walk on the road; For the enemy has a sword, 10Terror is on every side.26Daughter of my people, 11put on sackcloth And 12roll in ashes; 1314Mourn as for an only son, A most bitter mourning. For suddenly the destroyer Will come against us.

27“I have 15made you an assayer and an examiner among My people, So that you may know and put their way to the test.”28All of them are stubbornly rebellious, 16Going about as a slanderer; They are 17bronze and iron. They are, all of them, corrupt.29The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the 18wicked are not 19separated.3020They call them rejected silver, Because the 21Lord has rejected them.