Jeremiah 4

4If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, ^areturn unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not ^bremove. ^2cAnd thou shalt swear, ^dThe Lord liveth, ^ein truth, in judgment, and ^ein righteousness; and ^fthe nations shall bless themselves in him, and ^gin him shall they glory. ³For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, ^hBreak up your ⁱfallow ground, and ^ksow not among thorns. ^4lCircumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: ^mlest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, ^mnbecause of the evil of your doings. ⁵Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ^oBlow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, ^pAssemble yourselves, and let us go into ^qthe defenced cities. ^6rSet up the standard toward Zion: ^||retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from ^sthe north, and a great ^†destruction. ^7tThe lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place ^uto make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, ^vwithout an inhabitant. ⁸For this ^wgird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: ^xfor ^xythe fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. ⁹And 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 ^zwonder. ¹⁰Then said I, Ah, Lord God! ^asurely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, ^bsaying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. ¹¹At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,

^cA dry wind of ^dthe high places ^ein the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,

Not to fan, nor to cleanse,

¹²Even ^||a full wind from those places shall come unto me:

Now also will I ^†give sentence against them.

¹³Behold, he shall come up as clouds,

And his chariots shall be ^fas a whirlwind:

His horses are ^gswifter than eagles.

Woe unto us! ^hfor we are spoiled.

¹⁴O Jerusalem, ⁱwash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.

How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?

¹⁵For ^ka voice declareth ^lfrom Dan,

And publisheth affliction from ^mmount Ephraim.

¹⁶Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,

That watchers come ⁿfrom a far country,

And give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

^17oAs keepers of a field, are they against her round about;

Because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.

¹⁸Thy way and thy doings ^phave procured these things unto thee;

This is thy wickedness, because ^qit is bitter,

Because it reacheth unto thine heart.

^19rMy bowels, my bowels! I am pained at ^†my very heart;

^sMy heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace,

Because thou hast heard, O my soul, ^tthe sound of the trumpet, ^ttthe alarm of war.

^20uDestruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:

Suddenly are ^vmy tents spoiled, and ^vmy curtains in a moment.

²¹How long shall I see the standard, and hear ^tthe sound of the trumpet?

²²For my people is foolish, ^wthey have not known me;

They are sottish children, and they have none understanding:

^xThey are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

^23yI beheld the earth, and, lo, it was ^zwithout form, and void;

And the heavens, and ^athey had no light.

²⁴I beheld ^bthe mountains, and, lo, they trembled,

And all the hills moved lightly.

²⁵I beheld, and, lo, ^cthere was no man,

And ^call the birds of the heavens ^dwere fled.

²⁶I beheld, and, lo, ^ethe fruitful place was a wilderness,

And all the cities thereof were broken down

At the presence of the Lord, and by his ^ffierce anger.

²⁷For thus hath the Lord said,

The whole land shall be desolate;

Yet ^gwill I not make a full end.

²⁸For this ^hshall the earth mourn, and ^aithe heavens above be black:

Because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,

And ^kwill not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

²⁹The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and ^lbowmen;

They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon ^mthe rocks:

Every city shall be forsaken, and ⁿnot a man dwell therein.

³⁰And ^owhen thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?

Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou ^pdeckest thee with ornaments of gold,

Though thou rentest ^qthy ^†face with painting, in vain ^rshalt thou make thyself fair;

Thy ^slovers ^twill despise thee, they will seek thy life.

³¹For I have heard a voice as of ^ua 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 ^vspreadeth her hands,

^wSaying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.