Jeremiah 4
4
1 "O Israel, if you would return, says the Lord, then be converted to me. If you remove your offense from before my face, then you will not be shaken.
2 And you will swear, 'As the Lord lives,' in truth and in judgment and in justice." And the Gentiles will bless him, and they will praise him.
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and of Jerusalem: "Break new ground, and do not choose to sow upon thorns.
4 Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins from your hearts, O men of Judah, O inhabitants of Jerusalem. Otherwise my indignation may burst forth and flare up like a fire. And then there will be no one who can extinguish it, because of the wickedness of your thoughts.
5 Declare it in Judah, and make it known in Jerusalem! Speak out and sound the trumpet in the land! Cry out strongly and say: 'Gather yourselves! And let us go forth to fortified cities!'
6 Lift up a standard in Zion. Be strengthened! Do not choose to stand still. For I am bringing an evil from the north, with great destruction.
7 The lion has ascended from his den, and the pillager of the nations has lifted himself up. He has gone forth from his place, so that he may set your land in desolation. Your cities will be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant.
8 Concerning this, wrap yourselves in haircloth, mourn and wail: 'For the wrath of the fury of the Lord has not been turned away from us.'
9 And this shall be in that day, says the Lord: The heart of the king will perish, with the heart of the princes. And the priests will be stupefied, and the prophets will be in consternation."
10 And I said: "Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Could it be that you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: 'Peace shall be yours,' while, behold, the sword reaches even to the soul?"
11 "In that time, it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: 'A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert, along the way of the daughter of my people, but not to winnow and not to cleanse.'
12 A full spirit from these places will come to me. And now I will speak my judgments over them.
13 Behold, he will ascend like a cloud, and his chariot will ascend like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. 'Woe to us! For we are being devastated!'
14 Wash your heart from malice, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will harmful thoughts abide in you?
15 For there is a voice, of someone announcing from Dan, and he is making known the idol from mount Ephraim.
16 Say to the nations: 'Behold, it has been heard in Jerusalem! Guardians are coming from a far away land, to utter their voice against the cities of Judah.'
17 They have been stationed over her, like the guardians of fields, all around. For she has provoked me to wrath, says the Lord.
18 Your ways and your thoughts have brought these things upon you. This is your own wickedness. And it is bitter, because it has touched your heart.
19 I am afflicted in my heart, in my heart. The senses of my heart have been stirred up within me. I will not remain silent. For my soul has heard the voice of the trumpet, the clamor of the battle.
20 Destruction upon destruction has been called forth. And the entire earth has been devastated. My tabernacles have been destroyed suddenly, and my tents in an instant.
21 How long shall I watch those who are fleeing, and listen to the voice of the trumpet?
22 For my foolish people have not known me. They are foolish and mad sons. They are clever in doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.
23 I gazed upon the earth, and behold, it was empty and brought to nothing. And I gazed upon the heavens, but there was no light in them.
24 I watched the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills were shaken.
25 I looked, and there was no man. And all the flying things of the air had gone away.
26 I gazed, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its cities were destroyed before the face of the Lord, and before the face of the wrath of his fury."
27 For thus says the Lord: "All the earth will be desolate, but I will not yet bring about its consummation.
28 The earth will mourn, and the heavens will lament from above. For I have spoken, I have decided, and I have not regretted. Neither will I be turned away from it.
29 Before the voice of the horsemen and of those who send forth arrows, the entire city has fled. They have entered steep places, and they have ascended the cliffs. All of the cities have been abandoned, and no man lives within them.
30 So then, when you have been devastated, what will you do? Though you will clothe yourself with scarlet, though you will adorn yourself with a gold necklace and tint your eyes with cosmetics, you will be dressing yourself up in vain. Your lovers have spurned you; they will be seeking your life.
31 For I have heard a voice, like that of a woman giving birth, during the difficulties of labor. It is the voice of the daughter of Zion, dying, extending her hands: 'Woe to me! For my soul is failing because of those who have been slain!' "
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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.