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
1The Lord declares,
“If you come back, Israel,
if you come back to me,
if you take your disgusting idols out of my sight
and you don’t wander away from me,
2if you take the oath, ‘As the Lord lives …’
in an honest, fair, and right way,
then the nations will be blessed,
and they will be honored by me.”
The LORD Will Bring Destruction on Judah from the North
3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
Plow your unplowed fields,
and don’t plant among thorns.
4Be circumcised by the Lord,
and get rid of the foreskins of your hearts,
people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
If you don’t, my fury will flare up like a fire.
It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out,
because of the evil you do.
5Report this message in Judah.
Make it heard in Jerusalem.
Say, “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.”
Shout loudly and say, “Gather together!
Let’s go into the fortified cities.”
6Raise the flag to signal people to go to Zion.
Take cover!
Don’t just stand there!
I’m bringing disaster and widespread destruction from the north.
7A lion has come out of its lair.
A destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place to destroy your land.
Your cities will be ruined, and no one will live in them.
8So put on sackcloth, mourn, and cry
because the Lord’s burning anger hasn’t turned away from us.
9“When that day comes,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the leaders will lose their courage.
The priests will be stunned.
The prophets will be amazed and astonished.”
10I said, “Almighty Lord,
you certainly have deceived these people and Jerusalem.
You said that everything would go well for them,
but a sword is held at their throats.”
11At that time it will be said to these people and to Jerusalem:
“A hot wind from the heights will blow in the desert
on the tracks of my people.
It will not be a wind that winnows #4:11 Winnowing is the process of separating husks from grain. or cleanses.
12It will be a stronger wind than that.
It will come from me.
Now, I will pass sentence on them.”
13The enemy comes up like clouds.
His chariots are like a raging wind.
His horses are faster than eagles.
How horrible it will be for us! We will be destroyed!
14Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart
so that you may be rescued.
Don’t continue making evil plans.
15A message is heard from Dan,
and a report of disaster comes from the mountains of Ephraim.
16Warn the nations about these things.
Bring them to the attention of Jerusalem.
“Hostile troops are coming from a distant country.
They are shouting battle cries against the cities of Judah.
17They surround them like men guarding a field,
because Judah has rebelled against me,”
declares the Lord.
18“You brought this on yourself.
This is your punishment.
It is bitter.
It breaks your heart.”
19My anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
My heart is beating wildly!
My heart is pounding!
I can’t keep quiet
because I hear a ram’s horn sounding the alarm for war.
20One disaster follows another.
The whole land is ruined.
My tents are suddenly destroyed.
Their curtains are torn in an instant.
21How long must I see the battle flag and hear the sound of rams’ horns?
22“My people are fools. They don’t know me.
They are stupid people. They don’t understand.
They are experts in doing wrong,
and they don’t know how to do good.”
23I see the earth. It’s formless and empty.
I see the sky. Its lights are gone.
24I see the mountains. They are shaking,
and the hills are swaying.
25I see that there are no people,
and every bird has flown away.
26I see that the fertile land has become a desert,
and all its cities are torn down
because of the Lord and his burning anger.
27This is what the Lord says:
The whole earth will be ruined,
although I will not destroy it completely.
28The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black.
I have spoken, and I have planned it.
I won’t change my plans, and I won’t turn back.
29All the people in the city will flee
at the sound of riders and archers.
They will go off into the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
The entire city will be abandoned, and no one will live in it.
30You are going to be destroyed!
What are you going to do?
Why do you dress in red and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you wear eye shadow?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers reject you; they want to kill you.
31I hear a woman in labor.
I hear the woman cry with anguish as she gives birth to her first child.
My people Zion are gasping for breath.
They are stretching out their hands, saying,
“How horrible it is for us!
We’re defenseless in the presence of murderers!”
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