Jeremiah 4

1 If you will return, O Israel, says the Lord, Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.2 And you shall swear, The Lord lives, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; The nations shall bless themselves in Him, And in Him they shall glory.3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns.4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.

An Imminent Invasion

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the trumpet in the land; Cry, Gather together, And say, Assemble yourselves, And let us go into the fortified cities.6 Set up the standard toward Zion. Take refuge! Do not delay! For I will bring disaster from the north, And great destruction.7 The lion has come up from his thicket, And the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place To make your land desolate. Your cities will be laid waste, Without inhabitant.8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, Lament and wail. For the fierce anger of the Lord Has not turned back from us.9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, That the heart of the king shall perish, And the heart of the princes; The priests shall be astonished, And the prophets shall wonder.10 Then I said, Ah, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, Saying, You shall have peace, Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.11 At that time it will be said To this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness Toward the daughter of My people Not to fan or to cleanse12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me; Now I will also speak judgment against them.13 Behold, he shall come up like clouds, And his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are plundered!14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?15 For a voice declares from Dan And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:16 Make mention to the nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.17 Like keepers of a field they are against her all around, Because she has been rebellious against Me, says the Lord.18 Your ways and your doings Have procured these things for you. This is your wickedness, Because it is bitter, Because it reaches to your heart.

Sorrow for the Doomed Nation

19 O my soul, my soul! I am pained in my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.20 Destruction upon destruction is cried, For the whole land is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, And my curtains in a moment.21 How long will I see the standard, And hear the sound of the trumpet?22 For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.23 I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light.24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled, And all the hills moved back and forth.25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were broken down At the presence of the Lord, By His fierce anger.27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be desolate; Yet I will not make a full end.28 For this shall the earth mourn, And the heavens above be black, Because I have spoken. I have purposed and will not relent, Nor will I turn back from it.29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city shall be forsaken, And not a man shall dwell in it.30 And when you are plundered, What will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, Though you enlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you will make yourself fair; Your lovers will despise you; They will seek your life.31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself; She spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now, for my soul is weary Because of murderers!

Jeremiah 4

1 “If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord,
“if you want to come back to met
you must get those disgusting idolst out of my sight
and must no longer go astray.t

2 You must be truthful, honest and upright
when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’t
If you do,t the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are
and will make him the object of their boasting.”t

3 Yes,t the Lord has this to say
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Like a farmer breaking up hard unplowed ground,
you must break your rebellious will and make a new beginning;
just as a farmer must clear away thorns lest the seed is wasted,
you must get rid of the sin that is ruining your lives.t

4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin
as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,
you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord
and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me,t
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
If you do not,t my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you
that no one will be able to extinguish.
That will happen because of the evil you have done.”

Warning of Coming Judgment

5 The Lord said,t
“Announcet this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem:s
‘Sound the trumpett throughout the land!’
Shout out loudly,
‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’

6 Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion.t
Run for safety! Do not delay!
For I am about to bring disaster out of the north.
It will bring great destruction.t

7 Like a lion that has come up from its lairt
the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base.t
He is coming out to lay your land waste.
Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.

8 So put on sackcloth!
Mourn and wail, saying,
‘The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us!’”t

9 “When this happens,”t says the Lord,
“the king and his officials will lose their courage.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”

10 In response to all thist I said, “Ah, Lord God,t you have surely allowedt the people of Judah and Jerusalemt to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’t But in fact a sword is already at our throats.”t

11 “At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalemt will be told,
‘A scorching wind will sweep down
from the hilltops in the desert onts my dear people.t
It will not be a gentle breeze
for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.t

12 No,t a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding.
Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.’t

13 Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds.t
The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind.t
His horses move more swiftly than eagles.”
I cry out,t “We are doomed,t for we will be destroyed!”

14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evilt
so that you may yet be delivered.
How long will you continue to harbor up
wicked schemes within you?

15 For messengers are coming, heralding disaster,
from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.t

16 They are saying,t
‘Announce to the surrounding nations,t
“The enemy is coming!”s
Proclaim this messaget to Jerusalem:
“Those who besiege citiest are coming from a distant land.
They are ready to raise the battle cry againstt the towns in Judah.”’

17 They will surround Jerusalemt
like men guarding a fields
because they have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.

18 “The way you have lived and the things you have donet
will bring this on you.
This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed.t
The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.”t

19 I said,t
“Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach!t
I writhe in anguish.
Oh, the pain in my heart!t
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet;t
the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!s

20 I seet one destruction after another taking place,
so that the whole land lies in ruins.
I see ourt tents suddenly destroyed,
theirt curtains torn down in a mere instant.t

21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags
and hear the military signals of their bugles?”t

22 The Lord answered,t
“This will happent because my people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are like children who have no sense.t
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil.
They do not know how to do good.”

23 “I looked at the land and sawt that it was an empty wasteland.t
I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.

24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they were shaking.
All the hills were swaying back and forth!

25 I looked and saw that there were no more people,t
and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.

26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert
and that all of the cities had been laid in ruins.
The Lord had brought this all about
because of his blazing anger.t

27 All this will happen because the Lord said,t
“The whole land will be desolate;
however, I will not completely destroy it.

28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black.s
For I have made my purpose knownt
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.”t

29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.

30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,t
you accomplish nothingt by wearing a beautiful dress,t
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow!t
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you.t

31 In fact,t I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zions gasping for breath,
reaching out for help,t saying, “I am done in!t
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”