This page gives you ready-to-use questions and leader’s notes for studying Jeremiah 6, the chapter where God warns Jerusalem through the prophet that an enemy is coming from the north. It suits a small group, a Sunday class, or a personal study where you want to read closely, ask good questions, and connect the text to daily faithfulness.
Jeremiah 6 at a Glance
The chapter moves in waves. It opens with an alarm: people of Benjamin are told to flee Jerusalem because disaster is coming from the north. The Lord then speaks in his own voice, describing the city’s violence and corruption and his decision to judge it. A brief appeal follows, calling the people back to the old paths, but they refuse to listen. The chapter closes with a picture of Jeremiah as a tester of metals, watching the people refuse refinement and be rejected like worthless silver.
A leader can use the questions below in order, since each section builds on what the chapter has already shown. The first set stays with the text, the second asks what God is doing, and the third asks how the reader should respond.
Observation Questions
Use these to slow the group down and get everyone reading the same words before any interpretation begins. Ask people to find the answers in the text itself and point to specific verses, and resist explaining too early.
Jeremiah 6:16
The LORD says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
(WEB)
This verse contains the heart of the chapter’s invitation. Read it aloud so the group hears the choice set before the people: stand, look, ask, and walk. It gives the session a hopeful center even amid the warnings around it.
Jeremiah 6:8
Be instructed, Jerusalem, lest my soul be alienated from you; lest I make you a desolation, an uninhabited land.”
(WEB)
Reading this verse aloud reveals the emotional core of the Lord’s warning. It shows that judgment is motivated by a desire to turn the people back, which helps the group approach the rest of the chapter with that understanding in mind.
Jeremiah 6:19-20
19 Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. 20 To what purpose does frankincense from Sheba come to me, and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not pleasing to me.”
(WEB)
Hearing these verses together brings the group face to face with the problem of empty worship. Read them slowly so the contrast between offerings and obedience is clear, and then give everyone time to reflect on what they have just heard.
Jeremiah 6:27-30
27 “I have made you a tester of metals and a fortress among my people, that you may know and try their way. 28 They are all grievous rebels, going around to slander. They are brass and iron. All of them deal corruptly. 29 The bellows blow fiercely. The lead is consumed in the fire. In vain they go on refining, for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Men will call them rejected silver, because the LORD has rejected them.”
(WEB)
These closing verses use the image of refining metal and bring the chapter to a sobering end. Reading them aloud helps the group feel the weight of the image, and it prepares them for discussion about whether they are willing to be tested and purified.
Jeremiah 6:14
They have healed also the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.
(WEB)
This verse exposes the danger of false comfort. Reading it aloud allows the group to recognize how easily people can assure one another that all is well when it is not, which opens a helpful conversation about honest pastoral care.
Memory Verse for Jeremiah 6
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who have read a hard chapter about a city that would not listen. Keep us from the same stubbornness. Help us stand at the crossroads, look carefully, ask for the old paths, and walk in the good way you have shown us. Where we have offered worship while holding back our obedience, forgive us and make our lives agree with our prayers. Make us willing to be tested and refined rather than rejected, and give us courage to speak gently to one another when someone needs to hear a warning. Give us rest for our souls as we turn back to you. Amen.
