Jeremiah 4
1 If you return, Israel—declares the LORD—return to me. If you remove your detestable things from my sight, you will no longer wander.
2 If you swear, “As the LORD lives,” in truth, justice, and righteousness, then the nations will bless themselves by him and boast in him.
3 For this is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow new ground for yourselves, and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves for the LORD, and remove the foreskin from your hearts, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my fury will burst out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of the evil of your deeds.”
5 Announce it in Judah, proclaim it in Jerusalem, and say: “Sound the trumpet throughout the land!” Cry out loudly and say: “Gather together, and let us go to the fortified cities!”
6 Raise a banner toward Zion; flee, do not stop! For I am bringing disaster from the north, a great destruction.
7 A lion has come up from its thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a desolation. Your cities will be laid waste, with no one living in them.
8 So put on sackcloth, mourn, and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.
9 On that day—declares the LORD—the king and the officials will lose heart; the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astonished.
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword has reached our very throats.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and Jerusalem: “A scorching wind blows from the barren heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people; it is not for winnowing or cleaning.
12 A wind too strong for that comes at my command. Now I too will pronounce judgment against them.”
13 Look! He rises like the clouds; his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 Wash the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
15 For a voice announces disaster from Dan and proclaims it from the hills of Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations! Make it heard in Jerusalem: besiegers are coming from a distant land, raising their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like guards around a field, they surround her on every side, because she has rebelled against me—declares the LORD.
18 Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your wickedness; how bitter it is! It has reached your heart.
19 My chest, my chest! I writhe in pain! The walls of my heart! My heart pounds within me; I cannot keep silent, for you have heard, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is announced, for the whole land has been laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, in an instant, my curtains.
21 How long must I see the banner and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For my people are foolish; they do not know me. They are senseless children, without understanding. They are wise at doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.
23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; I looked at the heavens, and their light was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains, and they were trembling; all the hills were shaking.
25 I looked, and there was no one; all the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked, and the fertile land was a wilderness; all its cities lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
27 For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not bring it to a complete end.
28 Because of this, the land will mourn, and the skies above will grow dark. For I have spoken; I have decided, and I will not relent or turn back from it.”
29 At the noise of horsemen and archers, every city flees. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is deserted, and no one lives there.
30 And you, devastated one, what will you do? Even if you dress in scarlet, adorn yourself with gold, and widen your eyes with paint, you beautify yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
31 For I have heard a voice like that of a woman in labor, anguish like that of a woman giving birth for the first time. It is the voice of the daughter of Zion, groaning and stretching out her hands: “Woe is me! My life is fainting before the killers!”
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