Jeremiah 4 | King James Version

King James Version

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.

New International Reader’s Version

1 ‘If you, Israel, will return,’ announces the LORD, ‘then return to me. Put the statues of your gods out of my sight. I hate them. Stop going astray. 2 Make all your promises in my name. When you promise say, “You can be sure that the LORD is alive.” Be truthful, fair and honest when you make these promises. Then the nations will ask for blessings from me. And they will boast about me.’ 3 Here is what the LORD is telling the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He says, ‘Your hearts are as hard as a field that has not been ploughed. So change your ways and produce good crops. Do not plant seeds among thorns. 4 People of Judah and you who live in Jerusalem, obey me. Do not let your hearts be stubborn. If you do, my anger will blaze out against you. It will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. No one will be able to put it out.

Trouble will come from the North

5 ‘Announce my message in Judah. Tell it in Jerusalem. Say, “Blow trumpets all through the land!” Give a loud shout and say, “Gather together! Let’s run to cities that have high walls around them!” 6 Warn everyone to go to Zion! Run for safety! Do not wait! I am bringing trouble from the north. Everything will be totally destroyed.’ 7 Lions have come out of their dens. Those who destroy nations have begun to march out. They have left their place to destroy your land completely. Your towns will be broken to pieces. No one will live in them. 8 So put on the clothes of sadness. Mourn and weep over what has happened. The LORD hasn’t turned his great anger away from us. 9 ‘A dark day is coming,’ announces the LORD. ‘The king and his officials will lose hope. The priests will be shocked. And the prophets will be terrified.’ 10 Then I said, ‘You are my LORD and King. You have completely tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem! You have told them, “You will have peace and rest.” But swords are pointed at our throats!’ 11 At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be warned. They will be told, ‘A hot and dry wind is coming, my people. It is blowing towards you from the bare hilltops in the desert. But it does not separate straw from corn. 12 It is much too strong for that. The wind is coming from me. I am making my decision against you.’ 13 Look! Our enemies are approaching like the clouds. Their chariots are coming like a strong wind. Their horses are faster than eagles. How terrible it will be for us! We’ll be destroyed! 14 People of Jerusalem, wash your sins from your hearts and be saved. How long will you hold on to your evil thoughts? 15 A voice is speaking all the way from the city of Dan. From the hills of Ephraim it announces that trouble is coming. 16 ‘Tell the nations. Make an announcement concerning Jerusalem. Say, “An army will attack Judah. It is coming from a land far away. It will shout a war cry against the cities of Judah. 17 It will surround them like people who guard a field. Judah has refused to obey me,” ’ announces the LORD. 18 ‘The army will attack you because of your conduct and actions. This is how you will be punished. It will be so bitter! It will cut deep down into your hearts!’ 19 I’m suffering! I’m really suffering! I’m hurting badly. My heart is suffering so much! It’s pounding inside me. I can’t keep silent. I’ve heard the sound of trumpets. I’ve heard the battle cry. 20 One trouble follows another. The whole land is destroyed. In an instant my tents are gone. My home disappears in a moment. 21 How long must I look at our enemy’s battle flag? How long must I hear the sound of the trumpets? 22 The LORD says, ‘My people are foolish. They do not know me. They are children who do not have any sense. They have no understanding at all. They are skilled in doing what is evil. They do not know how to do what is good.’ 23 I looked at the earth. It didn’t have any shape. And it was empty. I looked at the sky. Its light was gone. 24 I looked at the mountains. They were shaking. All the hills were swaying. 25 I looked. And there weren’t any people. Every bird in the sky had flown away. 26 I looked. And the fruitful land had become a desert. All its towns were destroyed. The LORD had done all this because of his great anger. 27 The LORD says, ‘The whole land will be destroyed. But I will not destroy it completely. 28 So the earth will be filled with sadness. The sky above will grow dark. I have spoken, and I will not take pity on them. I have made my decision, and I will not change my mind.’ 29 People can hear the sound of horsemen. Men armed with bows are coming. The people in every town run away. Some of them go into the bushes. Others climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted. No one is living in them. 30 What are you doing, you who are destroyed? Why do you dress yourself in bright red clothes? Why do you put on jewels of gold? Why do you put makeup on your eyes? You make yourself beautiful for no reason at all. Your lovers hate you. They want to kill you. 31 I hear a cry like the cry of a woman having a baby. I hear a groan like someone having her first child. It’s the cry of the people of Zion struggling to breathe. They reach out their hands and say, ‘Help us! We’re fainting! Murderers are about to kill us!’