Jeremiah 4

1 Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me, declares the Lord. If you get rid of these disgusting idols I see, and don't wander away,

If you will return, O Israel, says the LORD, return to me: and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not remove.

2 and if when you make your vows, you do so only to me, sincerely, truly, and honestly, then the nations will be blessed by me, and they will praise me.

And you shall swear, The LORD lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

3 This is what the Lord is saying to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: Plow your unplowed ground, and don't sow among the thorns.

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Dedicate yourselves to the Lord; be totally committed to him, people of Judah and Jerusalem. Otherwise, my anger will blaze like fire, burning so hard that no one can put it out because of the evil you've done.

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

5 Announce this warning throughout Judah and Jerusalem! Tell them: Blow the trumpet everywhere in the country! Shout out, “Hurry! Let's run to the fortified towns for protection!”

Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defended cities.

6 Raise the danger flag; go to Zion! Find somewhere safe! Don't hesitate! I'm bringing enemies from the north who will cause terrible destruction.

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 A lion has left his hiding place; a destroyer of nations has started out. He has left his den to come and turn your country into a wasteland. Your towns will be demolished, and no one will live there.

The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

8 Wear clothes made of sackcloth, weep and wail, crying out, “The Lord's furious anger against us hasn't stopped.”

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 When that happens declares the Lord, the king and officials will lose heart, the priests will be devastated, and the prophets will be shocked.

And it shall come to pass at that day, says 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 wonder.

10 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, you have completely fooled the people of Jerusalem by telling them, ‘You will have peace,’ while holding a sword to our throats.”

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

11 At that time the people of Jerusalem will be told, “A burning wind from the bare hills of the desert is blowing toward the Jerusalem, but not to blow away the chaff or the dust.

At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12 No, this wind is too strong for that, and it comes from me. Now I'm also going to tell them how I will punish them.”

Even a full wind from those places shall come to me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Look, he's rushing in like stormclouds; his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses fly faster than eagles. “What a disaster! We're ruined!”

Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are spoiled.

14 Clean the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you can be saved. How long will you hold onto your evil thoughts?

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you?

15 News is shouted out from Dan, announcing disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 “Let the nations know! Look what's happening! Announce this to Jerusalem: An army is coming to besiege you from a distant country; shouting war-cries against the towns of Judah.

Make you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 They encircle her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.

As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she has been rebellious against me, says the LORD.

18 You've brought this on yourself by your own attitudes and actions. This is your punishment, and it's so painful, it's like being stabbed in the heart!”

Your way and your doings have procured these things to you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart.

19 “I'm in agony, absolute agony! My heart is breaking! It's beating wildly in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I can't keep quiet because I've heard the trumpet, the signal for battle.

My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 News of one disaster after another comes flooding in, for the whole country is in ruins. My own home is destroyed in a moment, and everything inside.

Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.

21 How long do I have to see the flags of war and hear the trumpets of battle?”

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

22 “My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are foolish children who just don't understand. They're experts at doing evil, but they don't know how to do good.”

For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are silly children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; I looked to the heavens, and its light was gone.

I beheld the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked at the mountains, and saw that they were shaking; all the hills were swaying to and fro.

I beheld the mountains, and, see, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I looked, and nobody was left; all the birds had flown away.

I beheld, and, see, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I looked, and the productive fields were a desert. All the towns were demolished because of the Lord's furious anger.

I beheld, and, see, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.

27 This is what the Lord says: “The whole country will be devastated, but I won't do so completely.

For thus has the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

28 The earth will mourn and the heavens above will go dark. I have spoken; this is what I have ordered. I'm not going to stop or change my mind.”

For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

29 People from every town: run away when they hear the enemy horsemen and archers coming. They hide in the forest and among the rocks. All the towns are abandoned; no one lives in them.

The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 You, Jerusalem, now desolate, what are you going to do? Even though you dress in scarlet clothes, and put on gold jewelry, and paint your eyes with make-up, all your dressing-up is pointless! Your lovers hate you; they want to kill you!

And when you are spoiled, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you rend your face with painting, in vain shall you make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life.

31 I hear the cries like a woman in labor, the agonizing moans of a woman giving birth to her first child. These are the cries of the Daughter of Zion gasping for air, holding out her hands, saying, “Please help me, I'm being murdered!”

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that mourns herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.