Jeremiah 4

4“If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,

^xto me you should return.

If you remove your detestable things from my presence,

^yand do not waver,

^2zand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then ^anations shall bless themselves in him,

^band in him shall they glory.”

³For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

^c“Break up your fallow ground,

and ^dsow not among thorns.

^4eCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

^flest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

^gbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

⁵Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

^h“Blow the trumpet through the land;

cry aloud and say,

ⁱ‘Assemble, and let us go

into the fortified cities!’

^6jRaise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from ^kthe north,

^land great destruction.

^7mA lion has gone up from his thicket,

a destroyer of nations has set out;

he has gone out from his place

to make your land a waste;

your cities will be ruins

ⁿwithout inhabitant.

⁸For this ^oput on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for ^pthe fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned back from us.”

⁹“In that day, declares the Lord, ^qcourage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” ¹⁰Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, ^rsurely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

¹¹At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from ^sthe bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, ¹²a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who ^tspeak in judgment upon them.”

¹³Behold, he comes up like clouds;

^uhis chariots like the whirlwind;

his horses are ^vswifter than eagles—

woe to us, ^wfor we are ruined!

¹⁴O Jerusalem, ^xwash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall your wicked thoughts

lodge within you?

¹⁵For a voice ^ydeclares from Dan

and proclaims trouble from ^zMount Ephraim.

¹⁶Warn the nations that he is coming;

announce to Jerusalem,

“Besiegers come ^afrom a distant land;

they shout against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷Like keepers of a field ^bare they against her all around,

because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.

¹⁸Your ways and your deeds

have brought this upon you.

This is your doom, and ^cit is bitter;

it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

^19dMy anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

Oh the walls of my heart!

My heart is beating wildly;

I cannot keep silent,

for I hear the sound of the trumpet,

the alarm of war.

^20eCrash follows hard on crash;

the whole land is laid waste.

^fSuddenly my tents are laid waste,

my curtains in a moment.

²¹How long must I see the standard

and hear the sound of the trumpet?

²²“For ^gmy people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

^hThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

²³I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ⁱwithout form and void;

^jand to the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴I looked on ^kthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

^25lI looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

²⁶I looked, and behold, the ^mfruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before ⁿhis fierce anger.

²⁷For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; ^oyet I will not make a full end.

^28p“For this the earth shall mourn,

^qand the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

^rI have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

²⁹At the noise of horseman and archer

every city takes to flight;

they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

all the cities are forsaken,

and ^sno man dwells in them.

³⁰And you, O desolate one,

what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,

^tthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

^uthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself.

^vYour lovers despise you;

they seek your life.

³¹For I heard ^wa cry as of a woman in labor,

anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,

the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

^xstretching out her hands,

“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”