Jeremiah 4
4
Blessing or Curse
1If you return,#4:1 Or Repent Israel —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
you will return to me,#Zch 1:3
if you remove your abhorrent idols#Jr 7:30; 16:18; 32:34
from my presence
and do not waver,
2then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”#Dt 6:13; 10:20; Jr 5:2
in truth,#Is 65:16 justice, and righteousness,#Hs 2:19
and then the nations will be blessed#4:2 Or will bless one another by him#Gn 26:3–4
and will boast in him.#Gn 12:1–3; 18:18; 22:18; 1Co 1:31
3For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
Break up the unplowed ground;#Hs 10:12
do not sow among the thorns.#Mt 13:7
4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,#Gn 17:14; Dt 10:16; Jr 9:25; Rm 2:28–29
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it#Is 1:31; Jr 21:12; Am 5:6; Mal 4:1
because of your evil deeds.
Judgment from the North
5Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.#Jr 6:1; Hs 5:8; Jl 2:1; 1Th 4:16–17
Cry out loudly and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.”
6Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.#Is 62:10
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north —
a crushing blow.#Is 14:31; 41:25; Jr 1:13; 4:20; 6:1; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41; 51:48; Ezk 26:7
7A lion has gone up from his thicket;#Ps 10:9; 17:12; Is 5:29; Jr 2:15; 5:6; 25:38; 49:19; 50:17,44
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.#Is 1:7; 6:11
8Because of this, put on sackcloth;
mourn and wail,#Jl 1:13
for the Lord’s burning anger#Nm 25:4; Ps 78:49
has not turned away from us.
9“On that day” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
10I said, “Oh no, Lord God, you have certainly deceived#1Kg 22:22; Ezk 14:9; 2Th 2:11 this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’#Jr 6:14; 23:17 while a sword is at#4:10 Lit sword touches our throats.”
11“At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind#Ezk 17:10 blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to my dear#4:11 Lit to the daughter of my people. It comes not to winnow or to sift; 12a wind too strong for this comes at my call.#4:12 Lit comes for me Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.’”#Jr 1:16; Ezk 5:8
13Look, he advances like clouds;#Rv 1:7
his chariots are like a storm.#Is 5:28; 66:15
His horses are swifter than eagles.#2Sm 1:23; Jb 9:26; Lm 4:19
Woe to us, for we are ruined!#Lm 5:16
14Wash the evil from your heart,#Ps 51:2,7; Is 1:16; Jr 2:22; Ti 3:5; Jms 4:8 Jerusalem,
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts?#Ps 119:113
15For a voice announces from Dan,
proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
16Warn the nations: Look!
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;#Is 39:3
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
17They have her surrounded#2Kg 25:1–4
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against me.#Is 1:20
This is the Lord’s declaration.
18Your way and your actions
have brought this on you.#Ps 107:17; Pr 1:31; Jr 7:3,5; 17:10; 18:11; 23:22; 25:5; 26:3,13; 32:19; Hs 4:9; 12:2; Zch 1:4,6
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
Jeremiah’s Lament
19My anguish, my anguish!#4:19 Lit My inner parts, my inner parts I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in#4:19 Lit the walls of my heart!#Is 16:11; Hab 3:16; Rm 9:1–2
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn —
the shout of battle.
20Disaster after disaster#Ezk 7:26 is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22“For my people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.#Ps 82:5; Is 1:3
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”#Rm 16:19
23I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.#Gn 1:2; Jb 26:7; Is 45:18
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.#Is 5:30; 13:10
24I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;#Jdg 5:5; Ps 46:1–3
all the hills shook.
25I looked, and there was no human being,#Gn 2:5
and all the birds of the sky had fled.#Zph 1:3
26I looked, and the fertile field#Jr 2:7 was a wilderness.#Ps 107:34
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and his burning anger.#Ps 76:7
27For this is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be a desolation,#Is 6:11
but I will not finish it off.#Neh 9:31; Jr 5:10,18; Rm 11:1–7
28Because of this, the earth will mourn;#Jr 8:13; 14:2; Hs 4:3
the skies above will grow dark.#Ps 105:28; Is 13:10; 50:3; Ezk 30:18
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.”#Nm 23:19; Is 46:11; 48:15; Ezk 37:14
29Every city flees#2Kg 25:4
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.#Is 2:19–21
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
30And you, devastated one, what are you doing#Is 10:3
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enhance your eyes with makeup?#2Kg 9:30
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;#Jr 30:14; Lm 1:19
they intend to take your life.#Ezk 23:9–10,22
31I hear a cry like a woman in labor,#Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Jr 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9–10; 1Th 5:3
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:#Is 1:15
“Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!”
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Jeremiah 4: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 4
4
A Call to Repentance
1The LORD says, “People of Israel, if you want to turn, then turn back to me. If you are faithful to me and remove the idols I hate, 2it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then#4.2 it will be right… name. Then; or and if you swear by my name and are truthful, just, and righteous, then. all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me.”
3 #
Hos 10.12
The LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “Plough up your unploughed fields; do not sow your seeds among thorns. 4Keep your covenant with me, your LORD, and dedicate yourselves to me, you people of Judah and Jerusalem. If you don't, my anger will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. It will burn, and there will be no one to put it out.”
Judah is Threatened with Invasion
5Blow the trumpet throughout the land!
Shout loud and clear!
Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem
to run to the fortified cities.
6Point the way to Zion!
Run for safety! Don't delay!
The LORD is bringing disaster
and great destruction from the north.
7Like a lion coming from its hiding place,
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He is coming to destroy Judah.
The cities of Judah will be left in ruins,
and no one will live in them.
8So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail
because the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from Judah.
9The LORD said, “On that day kings and officials will lose their courage; priests will be shocked and prophets will be astonished.”
10Then I said, “Sovereign LORD, you have completely deceived the people of Jerusalem! You have said there would be peace, but a sword is at their throats.”
11The time is coming when the people of Jerusalem will be told that a scorching wind is blowing in from the desert towards them. It will not be a gentle wind that only blows away the chaff — 12the wind that comes at the LORD's command will be much stronger than that! It is the LORD himself who is pronouncing judgement on his people.
Judah is Surrounded by Enemies
13Look, the enemy is coming like clouds. Their war chariots are like a whirlwind, and their horses are faster than eagles. We are lost! We are doomed!
14Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts?
15Messengers from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim announce the bad news. 16They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah 17and will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field, because her people have rebelled against the LORD. The LORD has spoken.
18Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.
Jeremiah's Sorrow for his People
19The pain! I can't bear the pain!
My heart! My heart is beating wildly!
I can't keep quiet;
I hear the trumpets
and the shouts of battle.
20One disaster follows another;
the whole country is left in ruins.
Suddenly our tents are destroyed;
their curtains are torn to pieces.
21How long must I see the battle raging
and hear the blasts of trumpets?
22The LORD says, “My people are stupid;
they don't know me.
They are like foolish children;
they have no understanding.
They are experts at doing what is evil,
but failures at doing what is good.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Destruction
23I looked at the earth — it was a barren waste;
at the sky — there was no light.
24I looked at the mountains — they were shaking,
and the hills were rocking to and fro.
25I saw that there were no people;
even the birds had flown away.
26The fertile land had become a desert;
its cities were in ruins
because of the LORD's fierce anger.
27(The LORD has said that the whole earth will become a wilderness, but that he will not completely destroy it.)
28The earth will mourn;
the sky will grow dark.
The LORD has spoken
and will not change his mind.
He has made his decision
and will not turn back.
29At the noise of the horsemen and bowmen
everyone will run away.
Some will run to the forest,
others will climb up among the rocks.
Every town will be left empty,
and no one will live in them again.
30Jerusalem, you are doomed!
Why do you dress in scarlet?
Why do you put on jewellery and paint your eyes?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing!
Your lovers have rejected you
and want to kill you.
31I heard a cry, like a woman in labour,
a scream like a woman bearing her first child.
It was the cry of Jerusalem gasping for breath,
stretching out her hand and saying,
“I am doomed!
They are coming to kill me!”
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.