Jeremiah 4
1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me:
and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou
not remove.
2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and
in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him
shall they glory.
3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break
up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of
your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come
forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your
doings.
5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye
the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and
let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will
bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the
Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land
desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce
anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the
heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests
shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived
this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword
reacheth unto the soul.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A
dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people,
not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also
will I give sentence against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as
a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are
spoiled.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest
be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from
mount Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against
Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice
against the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because
she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee;
this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine
heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart
maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my
soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is
spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the
trumpet?
22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are
sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil,
but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and
the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the
hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the
heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all
the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his
fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate;
yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black;
because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will
I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and
bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city
shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou
clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold,
though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself
fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the
anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter
of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me
now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
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