Jeremiah 4
4
How Israel Can Return to the Lord
1The Lord said:
Israel, if you really want
to come back to me, get rid
of those disgusting idols.
2Make promises only in my name,
and do what you promise!
Then all nations will praise me,
and I will bless them.
3 #
Ho 10.12. People of Jerusalem and Judah,
don't be so stubborn!
Your hearts have become hard,
like unplowed ground
where thornbushes grow.
4With all your hearts,
keep the agreement
I made with you.
But if you are stubborn
and keep on sinning,
my anger will burn like a fire
that cannot be put out.
Disaster Is Coming
The Lord said:
* 5“Sound the trumpets, my people.
Warn the people of Judah,#4.5 Judah: Hebrew “Judah and Jerusalem.”
‘Run for your lives!
6Head for Jerusalem
or another walled town!’
“Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending
disaster from the north.
7An army will come out,
like a lion from its den.
It will destroy nations
and leave your towns empty
and in ruins.”
8Then I told the people
of Israel,
“Put on sackcloth!#4.8 sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.
Mourn and cry out,
‘The Lord is still angry
with us.’ ”
9The Lord said,
“When all this happens,
the king and his officials,
the prophets and the priests
will be shocked and terrified.”
10I said, “You are the Lord God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?”
The Coming Disaster
11-12When disaster comes, the Lord will tell you people of Jerusalem,
“I am sending a windstorm
from the desert—
not a welcome breeze.#4.11,12 a welcome breeze: Hebrew “a wind to blow away the husks.” Farmers used a special shovel to pitch grain and husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up.
And it will sweep you away
as punishment for your sins.
13Look! The enemy army
swoops down like an eagle;
their cavalry and chariots
race faster than storm clouds
blown by the wind.”
Then you will answer,
“We are doomed!”
14But Jerusalem, there is still time
for you to be saved.
Wash the evil from your hearts
and stop making sinful plans,
15before a message of disaster
arrives from the hills of Ephraim
and the town of Dan.#4.15 Ephraim … Dan: The hills of Ephraim were to the north of Jerusalem, and Dan was even farther north. They would be reached by the invading army first.
16-17The Lord said,
“Tell the nations that my people
have rebelled against me.
And so an army will come
from far away
to surround Jerusalem
and the towns of Judah.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18“People of Judah,
your hearts will be in pain,
but it's your own fault
that you will be punished.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Punishment
19I can't stand the pain!
My heart pounds,
as I twist and turn in agony.
I hear the signal trumpet
and the battle cry of the enemy,
and I cannot be silent.
20I see the enemy defeating us
time after time,
leaving everything in ruins.
Even my own home
is destroyed in a moment.
21How long will I see enemy flags
and hear their trumpets?
22I heard the Lord say,
“My people ignore me.
They are foolish children
who do not understand
that they will be punished.
All they know is how to sin.”
23After this, I looked around.
The earth was barren,
with no form of life.
The sun, moon, and stars
had disappeared.
24The mountains were shaking;
25no people could be seen,
and all the birds
had flown away.
26Farmland had become a desert,
and towns were in ruins.
The Lord's fierce anger
had done all of this.
The Death of Jerusalem
27-28The Lord said:
I have made my decision,
and I won't change my mind.
This land will be destroyed,
although not completely.
The sky will turn dark,
and the earth will mourn.
29Enemy cavalry and archers
shout their battle cry.
People run for their lives
and try to find safety
among trees and rocks.
Every town is empty.
30Jerusalem, your land
has been wiped out.
But you act like a prostitute
and try to win back your lovers,
who now hate you.
You can put on a red dress,
gold jewelry, and eye shadow,
but it's no use—
your lovers are out to kill you!
31I heard groaning and crying.
Was it a woman giving birth
to her first child?
No, it was Jerusalem,
gasping for breath
and begging for help.
“I'm dying!” she said.
“They have murdered me.”
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Jeremiah 4: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 4
4
1If you return, O Israel,
says the Lord,
if you return to me,
if you remove your abominations from my presence,
and do not waver,
2and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!”
in truth, in justice, and in uprightness,
then nations shall be blessed#4.2 Or shall bless themselves by him,
and by him they shall boast.
3For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground,
and do not sow among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or else my wrath will go forth like fire,
and burn with no one to quench it,
because of the evil of your doings.
Invasion and Desolation of Judah Threatened
5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet through the land;
shout aloud#4.5 Or shout, take your weapons: Heb shout, fill (your hand) and say,
“Gather together, and let us go
into the fortified cities!”
6Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, do not delay,
for I am bringing evil from the north,
and a great destruction.
7A lion has gone up from its thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8Because of this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail:
“The fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.”
9On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”
11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights#4.11 Or the trails in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— 12a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.
13Look! He comes up like clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness
so that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil schemes
lodge within you?
15For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim.
16Tell the nations, “Here they are!”
Proclaim against Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17They have closed in around her like watchers of a field,
because she has rebelled against me,
says the Lord.
18Your ways and your doings
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom; how bitter it is!
It has reached your very heart.”
Sorrow for a Doomed Nation
19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent;
for I#4.19 Another reading is for you, O my soul, hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20Disaster overtakes disaster,
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in a moment.
21How long must I see the standard,
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22“For my people are foolish,
they do not know me;
they are stupid children,
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but do not know how to do good.”
23I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28Because of this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above grow black;
for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back.
29At the noise of horseman and archer
every town takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the towns are forsaken,
and no one lives in them.
30And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in crimson,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,
the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.