Jeremiah 4
4
1-2“If you want to come back, O Israel,
you must really come back to me.
You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia
and not wander away from me anymore.
Then you can say words like, ‘As God lives . . . ’
and have them mean something true and just and right.
And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing
and find something in Israel to write home about.”
* * *
3-4Here’s another Message from God
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Plow your unplowed fields,
but then don’t plant weeds in the soil!
Yes, circumcise your lives for God’s sake.
Plow your unplowed hearts,
all you people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Prevent fire—the fire of my anger—
for once it starts it can’t be put out.
Your wicked ways
are fuel for the fire.
God’s Sledgehammer Anger
5-8“Sound the alarm in Judah,
broadcast the news in Jerusalem.
Say, ‘Blow the ram’s horn trumpet through the land!’
Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!—
‘Close ranks!
Run for your lives to the shelters!’
Send up a flare warning Zion:
‘Not a minute to lose! Don’t sit on your hands!’
Disaster’s descending from the north. I set it off!
When it lands, it will shake the foundations.
Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover,
ready to rip nations to shreds,
Leaving your land in wrack and ruin,
your cities in rubble, abandoned.
Dress in funereal black.
Weep and wail,
For God’s sledgehammer anger
has slammed into us head-on.
9“When this happens”
—God’s Decree—
“King and princes will lose heart;
priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded.”
10Then I said, “Alas, Master God!
You’ve fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem.
You assured them, ‘All is well, don’t worry,’
at the very moment when the sword was at their throats.”
* * *
11-12At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem,
will be told in plain words:
“The northern hordes are sweeping in
from the desert steppes—
A wind that’s up to no good, a gale-force wind.
I ordered this wind.
I’m pronouncing
my hurricane judgment on my people.”
Your Evil Life Is Piercing Your Heart
13-14Look at them! Like banks of storm clouds,
racing, tumbling, their chariots a tornado,
Their horses faster than eagles!
Woe to us! We’re done for!
Jerusalem! Scrub the evil from your lives
so you’ll be fit for salvation.
How much longer will you harbor
devious and malignant designs within you?
15-17What’s this? A messenger from Dan?
Bad news from Ephraim’s hills!
Make the report public.
Broadcast the news to Jerusalem:
“Invaders from far off are
raising war cries against Judah’s towns.
They’re all over her, like a dog on a bone.
And why? Because she rebelled against me.”
God’s Decree.
18“It’s the way you’ve lived
that’s brought all this on you.
The bitter taste is from your evil life.
That’s what’s piercing your heart.”
* * *
19-21I’m doubled up with cramps in my belly—
a poker burns in my gut.
My insides are tearing me up,
never a moment’s peace.
The ram’s horn trumpet blast rings in my ears,
the signal for all-out war.
Disaster hard on the heels of disaster,
the whole country in ruins!
In one stroke my home is destroyed,
the walls flattened in the blink of an eye.
How long do I have to look at the warning flares,
listen to the siren of danger?
Experts at Evil
22“What fools my people are!
They have no idea who I am.
A company of half-wits,
dopes and donkeys all!
Experts at evil
but klutzes at good.”
23-26I looked at the earth—
it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness.
I looked at the skies,
and not a star to be seen.
I looked at the mountains—
they were trembling like aspen leaves,
And all the hills
rocking back and forth in the wind.
I looked—what’s this! Not a man or woman in sight,
and not a bird to be seen in the skies.
I looked—this can’t be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up.
All the towns were ghost towns.
And all this because of God,
because of the blazing anger of God.
27-28Yes, this is God’s Word on the matter:
“The whole country will be laid waste—
still it won’t be the end of the world.
The earth will mourn
and the skies lament
Because I’ve given my word and won’t take it back.
I’ve decided and won’t change my mind.”
You’re Not Going to Seduce Anyone
29Someone shouts, “Horsemen and archers!”
and everybody runs for cover.
They hide in ditches,
they climb into caves.
The cities are emptied,
not a person left anywhere.
30-31And you, what do you think you’re up to?
Dressing up in party clothes,
Decking yourselves out in jewelry,
putting on lipstick and rouge and mascara!
Your primping goes for nothing.
You’re not going to seduce anyone. They’re out to kill you!
And what’s that I hear? The cry of a woman in labor,
the screams of a mother giving birth to her firstborn.
It’s the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath,
reaching out for help:
“Help, oh help me! I’m dying!
The killers are on me!”
Currently Selected:
Jeremiah 4: MSG
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Jeremiah 4
4
1“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares Adonai. “If you will put your detestable things out of My sight. Then you will not waver.
2You will swear, ‘As Adonai lives!’ in truth, in justice and in righteousness. The nations will bless themselves in Him and in Him they will glory.”
3Thus says Adonai to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to Adonai and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Else My wrath will break out like fire and blaze, with no one to quench it, because of your evil deeds!”
Imminent Invasion from the North
5Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, saying: “Blow the shofar in the land!” Cry aloud and say, “Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities.”
6“Raise a banner toward Zion! Take refuge! Do not delay! For I bring calamity from the north, even terrible destruction.
7A lion has come up from his thicket— a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to make your land a wasteland. Your cities will lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
8Therefore, put on sackcloth— lament and wail! For the fierce anger of Adonai has not turned away from us.”
9“It will happen in that day” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “that the king’s heart will fail, as will the heart of the princes. The kohanim will be appalled, and the prophets will be stunned.”
10Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim! How completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem saying, ‘You will have shalom,’ until the sword touches the soul!”
11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren hills in the wilderness blows toward My people, but not to winnow or to sift—
12a wind too strong for these things will come from Me. Now even I will pronounce judgments against them.”
13See, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles— “Oy ! We are ruined!”
14O Jerusalem, purify your heart from wickedness, so that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts lodge within you?
15A voice announces from Dan and proclaims calamity from the hills of Ephraim,
16“Remind the nations, proclaim over Jerusalem! Besiegers are soon coming from a far country, raising their voice against the cities of Judah.
17Like keepers of a field they surround her, because she has been rebellious against Me.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
18Your conduct and your deeds have brought these things on you. This is your calamity! How bitter it is! How it smites your heart!
19My stomach, my stomach! I writhe in anguish! The pain of my heart! My heart is pounding within me! I cannot keep silent because I have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the battle-cry of war.
20Disaster on disaster is reported. So the whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly ravaged, my curtains in an instant.
21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the shofar?
22“For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are senseless children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they do not know.”
23I looked at the earth and behold, it was deserted and desolate, and at the heavens and they had no light.
24I looked at the mountains— behold, they were shaking and all the hills swaying to and fro.
25I looked and behold, no people! All the birds of the sky had fled.
26I looked and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness and all of its cities were in ruins before Adonai, before His fierce anger.
27For thus says Adonai, “The whole land will be wasteland, yet I will not totally destroy it.
28Therefore, the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow black. For I have spoken, I have purposed, nor will I relent, nor turn from it.
29At the sound of horsemen and archers the whole city flees. They go into the thickets and climb up on the rocks. The whole city is deserted— no one dwells in it.
30And you, O desolate one, what will you do? Though you dress in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold ornaments though you enlarge your eyes with paint—in vain you make yourself beautiful— your lovers despise you, they seek your life.
31For I heard a cry like one in labor, the anguish of one giving birth to her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands saying, “Oy , now to me! For my soul faints before murderers.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society