Jeremiah 4
1If you will return, O Israel,
says the LORD,
return unto me: and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not be moved.
2And you shall swear, The LORD lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem,
Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you 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.
5Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry, Gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
6Set up the standard toward Zion: take refuge, delay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7The lion has come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the nations is on his way; he has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail: for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned back from us.
9And it shall come to pass at that day,
says 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.
10Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; when the sword reaches unto the soul.
11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,
A dry wind of the high places blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13Behold, 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 ruined.
14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you?
15For a voice declares from Dan, and proclaims affliction from mount Ephraim.
16Make mention to the nations; behold, proclaim against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
17Like keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she has been rebellious against me,
says the LORD.
18Your way and your doings have procured these things unto you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches unto your heart.
19My soul, my soul! I am pained at 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.
20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is plundered: suddenly are my tents plundered, and my curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are stupid children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but how to do good they have no knowledge.
23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.
25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
27For thus has the LORD said,
The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not relent, neither will I turn back from it.
29The 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 in it.
30And when you are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain shall you make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life.
31For I have heard a voice like a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
Commentaries for Jeremiah 4:0