Jeremiah 4
New International Version - Jeremiah 4 << | >> 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152 4:1 'If you will return, O Israel, return to me,' declares the Lord. 'If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, 4:2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.' 4:3 This is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: 'Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord , circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done- burn with no one to quench it. 4:5 'Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: 'Sound the trumpet throughout the land!' Cry aloud and say: 'Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!' 4:6 Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.' 4:7 A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant. 4:8 So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us. 4:9 'In that day,' declares the Lord , 'the king and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.' 4:10 Then I said, 'Ah, Sovereign Lord , how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats.' 4:11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, 'A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 4:12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.' 4:13 Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined! 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts? 4:15 A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim. 4:16 'Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: 'A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. 4:17 They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,' ' declares the Lord. 4:18 'Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!' 4:19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry. 4:20 Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. 4:21 How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? 4:22 'My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.' 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone. 4:24 I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying. 4:25 I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away. 4:26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the Lord , before his fierce anger. 4:27 This is what the Lord says: 'The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely. 4:28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.' 4:29 At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them. 4:30 What are you doing, O devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why shade your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. 4:31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child- the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, 'Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.'