“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,

2  zand 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.”

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

c“Break up your fallow ground,

and dsow not among thorns.

4  eCircumcise 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

5 Declare 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!’

6  jRaise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from kthe north,

land great destruction.

7  mA 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.

8  For 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.”