Jeremiah 4

1 “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,

2 and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

3 For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it, because of your evil deeds.”

5 Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’

6 Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.

7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

8 So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”

9 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “the king and officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be astounded.”

10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;

12 a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”

13 Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

14 Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

15 For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

16 Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

17 They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

18 “Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”

19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.

20 Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

21 How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.

25 I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.

26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. All its cities were torn down before the LORD, before His fierce anger.

27 For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.

28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”

29 Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.

30 And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.

31 For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”

1 ¶ If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3 ¶ For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench [it], because of the evil of your doings.

5 ¶ Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; [and] thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, [that] the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12 [Even] a full wind from those [places] shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots [shall be] as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.

18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these [things] unto thee; this [is] thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.

19 ¶ My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, [and] my curtains in a moment.

21 How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people [is] foolish, they have not known me; they [are] sottish children, and they have none understanding: they [are] wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, [there was] no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place [was] a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, [and] by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken [it], I have purposed [it], and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city [shall be] forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And [when] thou [art] spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; [thy] lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, [and] the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, [that] bewaileth herself, [that] spreadeth her hands, [saying], Woe [is] me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me. And if thou put away thine abominations from my presence, thou shalt not be driven out.

2 Then shalt thou swear without hypocrisy, rightly and sacredly: As the LORD liveth! And the heathen shall be blessed in him, and shall glory in him.

3 For thus saith the LORD unto them of Judah and Jerusalem, Plant a new thing, and sow not under the hedges.

4 Circumcise yourselves unto the LORD, and put away the foreskin of your heart, ye men of Judah, and ye people of Jerusalem; lest my wrath come forth as fire, and burn, and no man quench it, because of your wickedness.

5 Proclaim ye then in Judah, and cry aloud unto Jerusalem, saying, Blow ye the trumpets in the land. Cry with a loud voice, saying, Gather yourselves together, and let us go into the strong cities.

6 Throw up a banner in Zion; heap ye up, and tarry not. For I bring a calamity from the north, and a great distress.

7 Therefore the lion cometh out of his hedge. And the destroyer of the heathen cometh out of his place. And the destroyer of the heathen cometh out of his place, to lay waste thy land, and to burn up thy cities, that no man dwell therein.

8 Therefore put on sackcloth, and mourn, and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD will not cease from us.

9 In that day, saith the LORD, the heart of the king and of the princes shall fail; the priests shall be confounded, and the prophets shall be afraid.

10 And I said, O Lord GOD, thou hast greatly failed this people and Jerusalem, when they said, There shall be peace among you, though the sword reach unto the soul.

11 And it shall be said in that day unto this people and to Jerusalem, There cometh a dry wind out of the mountains, as out of the wilderness, by the way of the daughter of my people, not to whirl nor to blow.

12 Yea, a wind cometh, which shall be too strong for them: then will I also be right with them.

13 Behold, he goeth forth as the clouds, and his chariots are as the whirlwind, and his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, we shall be destroyed!

14 Wash therefore, O Jerusalem, thine heart from evil, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall these evil doctrines abide with thee?

15 For there cometh a cry from Dan, and an evil report from mount Ephraim,

16 As the heathen boast. And it hath sounded as far as Jerusalem, and the guardians shall come from far countries, and shall cry against the cities of Judah.

17 They shall besiege them round about, as the keepers of the field: for they have provoked me to anger, saith the LORD.

18 This thou hast to recompense for thy nature and for thy doings. Then shall thy heart feel how thy wickedness is so great.

19 How heartily I am pained! My heart throbs in my flesh, and I have no rest: for my soul heareth the sound of the trumpet, and a battle of the field.

20 And the cry of murder shall be upon the cry of murder: for all the land shall be devastated; suddenly shall my tents and my tabernacles be destroyed.

21 How long shall I see the banner, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 But my people are foolish, and believe me not: they are foolish, and regard not. They are wise enough to do evil, but they will not learn to do good.

23 I looked upon the land, and, behold, it was desolate and waste; and upon the heaven, and it was dark.

24 I looked upon the mountains, and, behold, they quaked, and all the hills trembled.

25 I looked, and, behold, there was no man, and every fowl under heaven was flown away.

26 I looked, and, behold, the field was a desolation, and all the cities thereof were broken down before the LORD, and before his fierce anger.

27 For thus saith the LORD, The whole land shall be desolate, and yet it shall not be utterly desolate.

28 Therefore the land shall be sad, and the heavens above shall be sorrowful: for I have spoken it, I have determined it, and I will not repent, neither will I cease from it.

29 All the cities shall flee from the shout of the horsemen and the archers, and shall run into the thick forests, and shall creep into the rocks: all the cities shall stand desolate, and none shall dwell therein.

30 What then wilt thou do, O thou that art distressed? Though thou be clothed in purple, though thou be adorned with jewels of gold, though thou make up thy face, yet thou adornest thyself in vain: for they that court thee shall despise thee, they shall seek thy life.

31 For I hear a cry as of a woman in childbirth, an anguish as of one in the first throes of childbearing, a cry of the daughter of Zion, lamenting and casting out her hands, Alas, woe is me, I am almost consumed with grief.