Jeremiah 4
4
1“O Israel,” says the Lord,
“if you wanted to return to me, you could.
You could throw away your detestable idols
and stray away no more.
2Then when you swear by my name, saying,
‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
you could do so
with truth, justice, and righteousness.
Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world,
and all people would come and praise my name.”
Coming Judgment against Judah
3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!
Do not waste your good seed among thorns.
4O people of Judah and Jerusalem,
surrender your pride and power.
Change your hearts before the Lord,#4:4 Hebrew Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart.
or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire
because of all your sins.
5“Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem!
Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land:
‘Run for your lives!
Flee to the fortified cities!’
6Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem#4:6 Hebrew Zion.:
‘Flee now! Do not delay!’
For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you
from the north.”
7A lion stalks from its den,
a destroyer of nations.
It has left its lair and is headed your way.
It’s going to devastate your land!
Your towns will lie in ruins,
with no one living in them anymore.
8So put on clothes of mourning
and weep with broken hearts,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
is still upon us.
9“In that day,” says the Lord,
“the king and the officials will tremble in fear.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be appalled.”
10Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord,
the people have been deceived by what you said,
for you promised peace for Jerusalem.
But the sword is held at their throats!”
11The time is coming when the Lord will say
to the people of Jerusalem,
“My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert,
and it’s not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain.
12It is a roaring blast sent by me!
Now I will pronounce your destruction!”
13Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds!
His chariots are like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!
14O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart
that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
your evil thoughts?
15Your destruction has been announced
from Dan and the hill country of Ephraim.
16“Warn the surrounding nations
and announce this to Jerusalem:
The enemy is coming from a distant land,
raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah.
17They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field,
for my people have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
18“Your own actions have brought this upon you.
This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”
Jeremiah Weeps for His People
19My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain!
My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still.
For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets
and the roar of their battle cries.
20Waves of destruction roll over the land,
until it lies in complete desolation.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed;
in a moment my shelters are crushed.
21How long must I see the battle flags
and hear the trumpets of war?
22“My people are foolish
and do not know me,” says the Lord.
“They are stupid children
who have no understanding.
They are clever enough at doing wrong,
but they have no idea how to do right!”
Jeremiah’s Vision of Coming Disaster
23I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless.
I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.
24I looked at the mountains and hills,
and they trembled and shook.
25I looked, and all the people were gone.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
26I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness.
The towns lay in ruins,
crushed by the Lord’s fierce anger.
27This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
but I will not destroy it completely.
28The earth will mourn
and the heavens will be draped in black
because of my decree against my people.
I have made up my mind and will not change it.”
29At the noise of charioteers and archers,
the people flee in terror.
They hide in the bushes
and run for the mountains.
All the towns have been abandoned—
not a person remains!
30What are you doing,
you who have been plundered?
Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing
and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?
Your primping will do you no good!
The allies who were your lovers
despise you and seek to kill you.
31I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,
the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child.
It is beautiful Jerusalem#4:31 Hebrew the daughter of Zion.
gasping for breath and crying out,
“Help! I’m being murdered!”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 4: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
Jeremiah 4
4
Judah Threatened With Invasion
1#Joel 2:12; Jer 3:22 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 you shall not be moved.
2#Isa 65:16; Jer 9:24; Ge 22:18 You shall swear, “As the Lord lives,”
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
then the nations shall bless themselves in Him,
and in Him they shall glory.
3#Hos 10:12; Mt 13:7For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns.
4#Dt 10:16; Jer 9:26 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 so that no one can quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.
5#Jer 8:14; Jos 10:20 Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet in the land.
Cry aloud and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let us go into the fortified cities.”
6#Jer 1:13–15; 50:2 Set up the standard toward Zion.
Seek refuge, do not delay.
For I will bring disaster from the north,
and a great destruction.
7#Jer 2:15; Isa 1:7 The lion has come up from his thicket,
and the destroyer of the nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
to make your land desolate.
And your cities shall be laid waste
without an inhabitant.
8#Isa 22:12; Jer 6:26 For this gird yourself with sackcloth,
lament and howl.
For the fierce anger of the Lord
is not turned back from us.
9#Isa 22:3–5; 29:9–10 It shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord,
that the heart of the king will fail and the heart of the officials;
and the priests will be astonished
and the prophets will wonder.
10#Jer 5:12Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You shall have peace,’ whereas the sword reaches the throat.”
11#Eze 17:10; Hos 13:15At that time it will 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 or to cleanse, 12#Jer 1:16even a full wind from those places, will come to Me. Now also I will pronounce judgments against them.
13#Isa 5:28; 19:1 Look! 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 ruined!
14#Jas 4:8; Pr 1:22 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
15#Jer 8:16 For a voice declares from Dan,
and publishes wickedness from Mount Ephraim:
16#Jer 5:15; Eze 21:22 “Report it to the nations, now!”
Indeed, proclaim against Jerusalem:
“Besiegers come from a far country,
and lift their voices against the cities of Judah.
17#Jer 5:23; 2Ki 25:1–4 As watchmen of a field, they are against her all around,
because she has been rebellious against Me,
says the Lord.
18#Jer 2:19; Ps 107:17; Isa 50:1 Your way and your deeds
have procured these things to you.
This is your wickedness.
How bitter it is!
How it touches your heart!”
Sorrow for a Doomed Nation
19#Isa 16:11; 22:4 My soul, my soul!
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#Ps 42:7 Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed,
for the whole land is devastated.
Suddenly are my tents devastated,
and my curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22#Ro 16:19; 1Co 14:20 “For My people are foolish,
they have not known Me.
They are foolish children,
and they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil,
but to do good they have no knowledge.”
23#Ge 1:2; Isa 5:30 I looked on the earth,
and it was without form and void.
And to the heavens,
and they had no light.
24#Isa 5:25; Eze 38:20 I looked on the mountains,
and they trembled,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25I looked, and there was no man,
and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26#Ps 107:34 I looked, and the fruitful place was a wilderness,
and all the cities were broken down
at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger.
27#Jer 5:10; 5:18For thus says the Lord:
The whole land shall be desolate.
Yet I will not make a full end.
28#Nu 23:19; Isa 50:3 For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be black,
because I have spoken it, I have purposedit,
and will not relent, nor will I turn back from it.
29#Isa 2:19–21; Jer 4:7 The whole city shall flee
for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets
and climb up upon the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken,
and not a man dwell in it.
30#2Ki 9:30; La 1:2 When you are devastated, what will youdo?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
in vain you will make yourself fair.
Your lovers will despise you;
they will seek your life.
31#Isa 1:15; La 1:17 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
and the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion,
that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me,
for my soul is wearied because of murderers.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Military Bible Association