Old Testament · Jeremiah

Jeremiah 4

A Plea to Return

1If you return, O Israel, declares the LORD, return to me; and if you put away your abominations from before me, and do not waver,
2and you swear, As the LORD lives^a, in truth, in judgment^b, and in righteousness; then the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3For thus says the LORD to the man^c of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up for yourselves a fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my fury go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

Disaster from the North

5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, Blow the horn in the land; cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.

6Lift up a standard toward Zion; take refuge, do not stay; for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone forth from his place to make your land a desolation; your cities shall be laid waste, without inhabitant.
8For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us.
9And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be appalled, and the prophets shall wonder.

10And I said, Ah, Lord GOD! surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the soul^d.

11At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A scorching wind^e of the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse; 12a full wind from these comes to me; now I also will speak judgments against them.

13Behold, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are devastated.
14Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved^f. How long shall your iniquitous thoughts lodge within you?
15For a voice declares from Dan, and proclaims trouble from the hills of Ephraim.
16Make mention to the nations; behold, proclaim concerning Jerusalem, Watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17As keepers of a field they are against her round about; for she has rebelled against me, declares the LORD.
18Your way and your doings have done these things to you; this is your evil, for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.

Lamentation for Judah

19My bowels, my bowels! I writhe in pain. The walls of my heart! My heart moans within me; I cannot keep silent; for you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the horn, the alarm of war.
20Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed, for the whole land is devastated; suddenly my tents are devastated, in a moment my curtains.
21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the horn?
22For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are senseless children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know.
23I beheld the earth, and behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24I beheld the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.
25I beheld, and behold, there was no man^g, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26I beheld, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

27For thus says the LORD: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

28For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.
29From the noise of the horseman and the bowman the whole city flees; they go into the thickets, and climb up among the rocks; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells in them.
30And you, O devastated one, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself fair; your lovers despise you, they seek your soul.
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands: Woe is me now! for my soul faints before the slayers.