Jeremiah 4
4
1“If you will come back, Israel,
then come back to me,” says the Lord.
“Throw away your idols that I hate.
Don’t wander away from me.
2Then you may say when you make a promise,
‘As surely as the Lord lives.’
And you can say it in a truthful, honest and right way.
Then the nations will be blessed by the Lord.
And they will praise the Lord for what he has done.”
3This is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Plow your unplowed fields.
Don’t plant seeds among the thorns.
4Give yourselves to the service of the Lord.
Decide to obey him.
Do this, men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.
If you don’t, my anger will spread among you like a fire.
No one will be able to put it out
because of the evil you have done.
Trouble from the North
5“Announce this message to Judah and say it in Jerusalem:
‘Blow the trumpet throughout the country!’
Shout out loud and say,
‘Come together!
Let’s all escape to the strong, walled cities!’
6Raise the signal flag toward Jerusalem!
Run for your lives! And don’t wait!
Do this because I am bringing disaster from the north.
It will be terrible destruction.”
7A lion has come out of his den.
A destroyer of nations has begun to march.
He has left his home
to destroy your land.
Your towns will be destroyed.
There will be no people left to live in them.
8So put on rough cloth,
show how sad you are and cry loudly.
The terrible anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9“When this happens,” says the Lord,
“the king and officers will lose their courage.
The priests will be terribly afraid.
And the prophets will be shocked!”
10Then I, Jeremiah, said, “Lord God, you have tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said, ‘You will have peace.’ But now the sword is pointing at our throats!”
11At that time this message will be given to Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hilltops. It comes out of the desert toward the Lord’s people. It is not like the gentle wind farmers use to separate grain from chaff. 12It’s a stronger wind than that. And it comes from the Lord. Now he will announce his judgment against the people of Judah.”
13Look! The enemy rises up like a cloud.
His chariots come like a windstorm.
His horses are faster than eagles.
How terrible it will be for us! We are ruined!
14People of Jerusalem, clean the evil from your hearts and be saved.
Don’t continue making evil plans.
15A voice from Dan makes an announcement.
From the mountains of Ephraim someone brings bad news.
16“Report this to the nations.
Spread this news in Jerusalem:
‘Enemies are coming from a faraway country.
They are shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.
17The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem as men guard a field.
This is because Judah turned against me,’” says the Lord.
18“The way you have lived and acted
has brought this trouble to you.
This is your punishment.
How terrible it is!
The pain stabs your heart!”
Jeremiah’s Cry
19Oh, how I hurt! How I hurt!
I am bent over in pain.
Oh, the torture in my heart!
My heart is pounding inside me.
I cannot keep quiet.
This is because I have heard the sound of the trumpet.
I have heard the words of war.
20Disaster follows disaster.
The whole country has been destroyed.
My tents are destroyed in only a moment.
My curtains are torn down quickly.
21How long must I look at the war flag?
How long must I listen to the war trumpets?
22The Lord says, “My people are foolish.
They do not know me.
They are stupid children.
They don’t understand.
They are skillful at doing evil.
They don’t know how to do good.”
Disaster Is Coming
23I looked at the earth.
It was empty and had no shape!
I looked at the sky.
And its light was gone.
24I looked at the mountains,
and they were shaking!
All the hills were trembling.
25I looked, and there were no people!
Every bird in the sky had flown away.
26I looked, and the good, rich land had become a desert!
All its towns had been destroyed.
The Lord and his great anger has caused this.
27This is what the Lord says:
“All the land will be ruined.
But I will not completely destroy it.
28So the people in the land will cry loudly.
And the sky will grow dark.
This is because I have spoken and will not change my mind.
I have made a decision, and I will not change it.”
29The towns will hear the sound of the horsemen and soldiers with bows.
All the people will run away.
Some of them will hide in the thick bushes.
Some will climb up into the rocks.
All of the cities of Judah are empty.
No one lives in them.
30Judah, you destroyed nation, what are you doing?
Why do you put on your finest dress?
Why do you put on your gold jewelry?
Why do you put on your eye shadow?
You make yourself beautiful, but it is all useless.
Your lovers hate you.
They want to kill you.
31I hear a cry like a woman having a baby.
It is a cry like a woman having her first child.
It is the voice of Jerusalem gasping for breath.
She lifts her hands in prayer and says,
“Oh! I am about to faint.
They are about to murder me!”
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Jeremiah 4: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Jeremiah 4
4
1“If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
#Jer. 3:1, 22; 15:19; Joel 2:12“Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
2#Deut. 10:20; Is. 45:23; 65:16; Jer. 12:16And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’
#Is. 48:1; Zech. 8:8In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;
#(Gen. 22:18); Ps. 72:18; Is. 65:16; Jer. 3:17; (Gal. 3:8)The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they shall #Is. 45:25; Jer. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17glory.”
3For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
#Hos. 10:12“Break up your fallow ground,
And #Matt. 13:7do not sow among thorns.
4#Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 9:25, 26; (Rom. 2:28, 29; Col. 2:11)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
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 doings.”
An Imminent Invasion
5Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
#Jer. 6:1; Hos. 8:1“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, #Josh. 10:20; Jer. 8:14‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the #Jer. 1:13–15; 6:1, 22; 50:17north,
And great destruction.”
7#2 Kin. 24:1; Dan. 7:4The lion has come up from his thicket,
And #Jer. 25:9; Ezek. 26:7–10the destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
#Is. 1:7; 6:11; Jer. 2:15To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.
8For this, #Is. 22:12; Jer. 6:26clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.
9“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”
10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
#2 Kin. 25:10–12; Ezek. 14:9; 2 Thess. 2:11Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
#Jer. 5:12; 14:13Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’
Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
#Jer. 51:1; Ezek. 17:10; Hos. 13:15“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
12A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
Now #Jer. 1:16I will also speak judgment against them.”
13“Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And #Is. 5:28his chariots like a whirlwind.
#Deut. 28:49; Lam. 4:19; Hos. 8:1; Hab. 1:8His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
14O Jerusalem, #Prov. 1:22; Is. 1:16; Jer. 13:27; James 4:8wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
15For a voice declares #Jer. 8:16; 50:17from Dan
And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:
16“Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a #Is. 39:3; Jer. 5:15far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
17#2 Kin. 25:1, 4Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says the Lord.
18“Your#Ps. 107:17; Is. 50:1; Jer. 2:17, 19 ways and your doings
Have procured these things for you.
This is your wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart.”
Sorrow for the Doomed Nation
19O my #2 Kin. 25:11; 2 Chr. 36:20; Is. 15:5; 16:11; 21:3; 22:4; Jer. 9:1, 10; 20:9soul, my soul!
I am pained in 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; Ezek. 7:26Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
Suddenly #Jer. 10:20my tents are plundered,
And my curtains in a moment.
21How long will I see the standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22“For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are silly children,
And they have no understanding.
#Jer. 9:3; 13:23; Rom. 16:19; 1 Cor. 14:20They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”
23#Is. 24:19I beheld the earth, and indeed it was #Gen. 1:2without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
24#Is. 5:25; Jer. 10:10; Ezek. 38:20I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And #Jer. 9:10; 12:4; Zeph. 1:3all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a #Jer. 9:10wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the Lord,
By His fierce anger.
27For thus says the Lord:
“The whole land shall be desolate;
#Jer. 5:10, 18; 30:11; 46:28Yet I will not make a full end.
28For this #Jer. 12:4, 11; 14:2; Hos. 4:3shall the earth mourn,
And #Is. 5:30; 50:3; Joel 2:30, 31the heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken.
I have #Is. 46:10, 11; (Dan. 4:35)purposed and #(Num. 23:19); Jer. 7:16; 23:30; 30:24will not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.
29The whole city shall flee from 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 shall dwell in it.
30“And when you are plundered,
What will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
#2 Kin. 9:30; Ezek. 23:40Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you will make yourself fair;
#Jer. 22:20, 22; Lam. 1:2, 19; Ezek. 23:9, 10, 22Your lovers will despise you;
They will seek your life.
31“For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;
She #Is. 1:15; Lam. 1:17spreads her hands, saying,
‘Woe is me now, for my soul is weary
Because of murderers!’
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.