JeremiahChapter 4

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¹"Israel, if you will come back,
then come back to me," declares the LORD.
"If you will take your disgusting idols out of my sight
and stop going back and forth, ²and if you can make your promises by saying,
'As surely as the LORD lives,'
in truth, in fairness, and in what is right,
then the nations will be blessed by him,
and they will boast in him." ³For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
"Break up your hard, unplowed ground.
Do not plant your seed among thorns. ⁴Circumcise yourselves for the LORD.
Cut away the foreskins of your hearts,
you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.
If you don't, my anger will break out like fire.
It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out,
because of the evil things you have done." ⁵Announce it in Judah.
Shout it in Jerusalem and say,
"Blow the ram's horn all through the land!
Cry out loud and say,
'Gather together!
Let's run to the walled cities!' ⁶Raise a signal flag toward Zion!
Run for safety! Don't wait!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
and terrible destruction. ⁷A lion has come up out of his thicket.
A destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his den
to ruin your land.
Your cities will be turned to ruins,
and no one will live in them. ⁸So put on sackcloth.
Mourn and wail.
For the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us." ⁹"On that day," declares the LORD,
"the king and officials will lose heart.
The priests will shake with fear,
and the prophets will be stunned." ¹⁰Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! You have completely fooled these people and Jerusalem. You said, 'You will have peace.' But a sword is at our throats!" ¹¹At that time these people and Jerusalem will be told,
"A burning wind blows from the bare hills in the desert.
It blows toward my dear people.
But it is not a breeze to separate grain from straw or to clean it. ¹²A wind too strong for that comes from me.
Now I also announce my judgments against them." ¹³Look! He comes on like the clouds.
His chariots are like a whirlwind.
His horses are faster than eagles.
How terrible for us! We are ruined! ¹⁴Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart
so that you may be saved.
How long will you keep
wicked thoughts inside you? ¹⁵For a voice is heard from Dan.
It announces disaster from the hills of Ephraim. ¹⁶"Warn the nations now!
Announce to Jerusalem:
'An army is coming from a land far away to surround the city.
They shout against the cities of Judah. ¹⁷They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,'" declares the LORD. ¹⁸"Your own ways and actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
It stabs you to the heart!" ¹⁹Oh, my pain, my pain!
I twist in agony!
Oh, the pain in my chest!
My heart pounds inside me.
I cannot keep quiet.
For I have heard the sound of the horn,
the battle alarm. ²⁰Disaster after disaster is reported,
for the whole land is ruined.
In a moment my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in an instant. ²¹How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the horn? ²²"My people are fools.
They do not know me.
They are foolish children.
They have no understanding.
They are skilled at doing evil,
but they do not know how to do good." ²³I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.
I looked at the heavens,
and there was no light. ²⁴I looked at the mountains,
and they were shaking.
All the hills were swaying. ²⁵I looked, and no people were left.
All the birds of the sky had flown away. ²⁶I looked, and the rich farmland was a desert.
All its cities were torn down
before the LORD, before his fierce anger. ²⁷For this is what the LORD says:
"The whole land will be ruined,
but I will not destroy it completely. ²⁸So the earth will mourn,
and the sky above will grow dark.
I have spoken, and I have planned it.
I will not change my mind or turn back." ²⁹At the sound of horsemen and archers
every city runs away.
They go into the thick bushes
and climb up among the rocks.
Every city is deserted.
No one lives in them. ³⁰And you, ruined one, what will you do?
Even if you dress yourself in bright red,
even if you put on gold jewelry,
even if you paint around your eyes to make them look big,
you make yourself pretty for nothing.
Your lovers hate you.
They want to kill you. ³¹For I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a cry of pain like a woman having her first child.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath.
She reaches out her hands and says,
"How terrible for me!
I am fainting before the murderers!"