Jeremiah 4 / 52
- 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,
- 2and 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."
- 3This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: "Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.
- 4Circumcise 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. ( Disaster From the North )
- 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!'
- 6Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction."
- 7A 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.
- 8So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.
- 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."
- 10Then 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."
- 11At 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;
- 12a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them."
- 13Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!
- 14O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
- 15A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
- 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.
- 17They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,' " declares the LORD .
- 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!"
- 19Oh, 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.
- 20Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.
- 21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?
- 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."
- 23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.
- 24I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
- 25I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.
- 26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD , before his fierce anger.
- 27This is what the LORD says: "The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.
- 28Therefore 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."
- 29At 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.
- 30What 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.
- 31I 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."