Jer 4
1
If Israel will return to me, says the Lord, he shall return: and if he will remove
his abominations out of his mouth, and fear before me, and swear,
2
The Lord lives, with truth, in judgement and righteousness, then shall nations Gr. in him bless by him, and by him they shall
praise God in Jerusalem.
3
For thus says the Lord to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Break
up fresh ground for yourselves, and sow not among thorns.
4
Circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise your hardness of heart, you men
of Juda, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my anger go forth as fire, and burn, and
there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your devices.
5
Declare you in Juda, and let it be heard in Jerusalem: say you, Sound the trumpet
in the land; cry you aloud: say you, Gather yourselves together, and let us enter
into the fortified cities.
6
Gather up your wares and flee to Sion: hasten, stay not: for I will bring evils from
the north, an great destruction.
7
The lion is gone up from his lair, he has roused himself to the destruction of the
nations, and has gone forth out of his place, to make the land desolate; and the cities
shall be destroyed, so as to be without inhabitant.
8
For these things gird yourselves with sackclothes, and lament, and howl: for the anger
of the Lord is not turned away from you.
9
And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king shall
perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be amazed, and the prophets
shall wonder.
10
And I said, O sovereign Lord, truly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying,
There shall be peace; whereas behold, the sword has reached even to their soul.
11
At that time they shall say to this people and to Jerusalem, There is a spirit of
error in the wilderness: the way of the daughter of my people is not to purity, nor
to holiness.
12
But a spirit of Gr. accomplishment full vengeance shall come upon me; and now I declare my judgements against them.
13
Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are
swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are in misery.
14
Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long will
your grievous thoughts be within you?
15
For a voice of one publishing from Dan shall come, and trouble out of mount Ephraim
shall be heard of.
16
Remind you the nations; behold, they are come: proclaim it in Jerusalem, that bands
are approaching from a land afar off, and have uttered their voice against the cities
of Juda.
17
As keepers of a field, they have surrounded her; because you, says the Lord, has neglected
me.
18
Your ways and your devices have brought these things upon you; this is your wickedness,
for it is bitter, for it has reached to your heart.
19
I am pained in my bowels, my bowels, and the sensitive powers of my heart; my soul
is in great commotion, my heart is torn: I will not be silent, for my soul has heard
the sound of a trumpet, the cry of war, and of distress: it calls on destruction;
20
for all the land is distressed: suddenly my tabernacle is distressed, my curtains
have been rent asunder.
21
How long shall I see fugitives, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22
For the princes of my people have not known me, they are foolish and unwise children:
they are wise to do evil, but how to do good they have not known.
23
I looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was not; and to the sky, an there was no
light in it.
24
I beheld the mountains, and they trembled, and I saw all the hills in commotion.
25
I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were scared.
26
I saw, and, behold, Carmel was desert, and all the cities were burnt with fire at
the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his fierce anger they were utterly
destroyed.
27
Thus says the Lord, The whole land shall be desolate; but I will not make a full end.
28
For these things let the earth mourn, and let the sky be dark above: for I have spoken,
and I will not repent; I have Lit. rushed forward purposed, and I will not turn back from it.
29
The whole land has recoiled from the noise of the horseman and the bent bow; they
have gone into the caves, and have hidden themselves in the groves, and have gone
up upon the rocks: every city was abandoned, no man dwelt in them.
30
And what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, and adorn yourself
with golden ornaments; though you adorn your eyes with stibium, your Lit. beautifying beauty will be in vain: your lovers
have rejected you, they seek your life.
31
For I have heard your groaning as the voice of a woman in travail, as of her that
brings forth her first child; the voice of the daughter of Zion shall fail through
weakness, and she shall lose the strength of her hands, saying, Woe is me! for my
soul faints because of the slain.