Jeremia 4 | 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!’

English Standard Version

1 “If you return, O Israel, declares the Lord, to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence, and do not waver, 2 and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” 3 For thus says 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; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, “Blow the trumpet through the land; cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!’ 6 Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, stay not, for I bring disaster from the north, and great destruction. 7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. 8 For this put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us.” 9 “In that day, declares the Lord, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.” 11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.” 13 Behold, he comes up like clouds; his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles— woe to us, for we are ruined! 14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you? 15 For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. 16 Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, “Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. 17 Like keepers of a field are they against her all around, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord. 18 Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. 21 How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22 “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” 23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. 25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled. 26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger. 27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end. 28 “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.” 29 At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them. 30 And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. 31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, “Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

Jeremia 4 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Trouble will come from the North

Disaster from the North

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation