Jeremiah 4:19–31

Jeremiah Weeps for His People

¹⁹My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain!

My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still.

For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets

and the roar of their battle cries.

²⁰Waves of destruction roll over the land,

until it lies in complete desolation.

Suddenly my tents are destroyed;

in a moment my shelters are crushed.

²¹How long must I see the battle flags

and hear the trumpets of war?

²²“My people are foolish

and do not know me,” says the Lord.

“They are stupid children

who have no understanding.

They are clever enough at doing wrong,

but they have no idea how to do right!”

Jeremiah’s Vision of Coming Disaster

²³I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless.

I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.

²⁴I looked at the mountains and hills,

and they trembled and shook.

²⁵I looked, and all the people were gone.

All the birds of the sky had flown away.

²⁶I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness.

The towns lay in ruins,

crushed by the Lord’s fierce anger.

²⁷This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,

but I will not destroy it completely.

²⁸The earth will mourn

and the heavens will be draped in black

because of my decree against my people.

I have made up my mind and will not change it.”

²⁹At the noise of charioteers and archers,

the people flee in terror.

They hide in the bushes

and run for the mountains.

All the towns have been abandoned—

not a person remains!

³⁰What are you doing,

you who have been plundered?

Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing

and put on gold jewelry?

Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?

Your primping will do you no good!

The allies who were your lovers

despise you and seek to kill you.

³¹I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,

the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child.

It is beautiful Jerusalem

gasping for breath and crying out,

“Help! I’m being murdered!”