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²⁰Declare this in the house of Jacob;
proclaim it in Judah:
²¹"Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
  who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.
²² Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
²³ But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
²⁴They do not say in their hearts,
'Let us fear the LORD our God,
 who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
  the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
²⁵ Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
²⁶For wicked men are found among my people;
  they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
 They set a trap;
they catch men.
²⁷Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
²⁸ they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
  they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
²⁹ Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?"

³⁰An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
³¹ the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
 my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?

Jeremiah 6

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

⁶For thus says the LORD of hosts: "Cut down her trees;
  cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
⁷ As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her evil;
 violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
⁸Be warned, O Jerusalem,
  lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land."

⁹Thus says the LORD of hosts: "They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again
over its branches."
¹⁰ To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
 Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
  they cannot listen;
behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
¹¹Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;
  I am weary of holding it in.
 "Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
 both husband and wife shall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
¹² Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,"

declares the LORD. ¹³ "For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
¹⁴They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, 'Peace, peace,'
  when there is no peace.
¹⁵ Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
  at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,"

says the LORD.

¹⁶Thus says the LORD:"Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
  and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' ¹⁷ I set watchmen over you, saying,
'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!'
But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' ¹⁸Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
¹⁹Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
  the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
²⁰ What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
 Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
²¹Therefore thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.'"

²²Thus says the LORD: "Behold, a people is coming from the north country,
a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
²³They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are cruel and have no mercy;
  the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!"
²⁴We have heard the report of it;
  our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
  pain as of a woman in labor.
²⁵Go not out into the field,
nor 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;
 make mourning as for an only son,
most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.

²⁷"I have made you a tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and test their ways.
²⁸ They are all stubbornly rebellious,
  going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron;
all of them act corruptly.
²⁹The bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
 in vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
³⁰ Rejected silver they are called,
for the LORD has rejected them."

Josiah Repairs the Temple

Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law

¹¹When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. ¹²And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ¹³"Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us."

¹⁴So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. ¹⁵And she said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. ¹⁷ Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. ¹⁸But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, ¹⁹ because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the LORD, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. ²⁰Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.'" And they brought back word to the king.

The Book of the Law Found

¹⁴While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses. ¹⁵Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan. ¹⁶Shaphan brought the book to the king, and further reported to the king, "All that was committed to your servants they are doing. ¹⁷They have emptied out the money that was found in the house of the LORD and have given it into the hand of the overseers and the workmen." ¹⁸Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it before the king.

¹⁹And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. ²⁰And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, ²¹"Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book."

Huldah Prophesies Disaster