Jer 4 | NASB2020 | STEP | “If you will return , Israel ,” declares the Lord , “ Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detestable things from My presence , And will not waver ,

Jeremiah 4

Judah Threatened with Invasion

1 “If you will ^areturn, Israel,” declares the Lord,
“Then you should return to Me.
And ^bif you will put away your detestable things from My presence,
And will not waver,
2 And if you will ^cswear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
^dIn truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the ^enations will bless themselves in Him,
And ^fin Him they will boast.”
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“ ^{▼▼Lit Plow for yourselves plowed ground
,} ^hBreak up your uncultivated ground,
And ⁱdo not sow among thorns.
4 “ ^jCircumcise yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskins of your hearts,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My ^kwrath will spread like fire
And burn with ^lno one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds.”

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“ ^mBlow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘ ⁿAssemble, and let’s go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 “Raise a ^oflag toward Zion!
Take refuge, do not stand still,
For I am bringing ^pevil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 “A ^qlion has gone up from his thicket,
And a ^rdestroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To ^smake your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruins,
Without an inhabitant.
8 “For this, ^tput on sackcloth,
Mourn and wail;
For the ^ufierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned away from us.”
9 “And it shall come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “that the ^vheart of the king and the hearts of the leaders will fail; and the priests will tremble, and the ^wprophets will be astonished.”

10 Then I said, “Oh, Lord ^{▼▼Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God! Surely You have utterly ^ydeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘ ^zYou will have peace’; yet a sword touches the ^{▼▼Or life}throat.”

11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A ^abscorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness, in the direction of the daughter of My people--not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too ^{▼▼Lit full from}strong for ^{▼▼Lit these}this--will come ^{▼▼Lit for Me}at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them.”

13 “Behold, he ^afgoes up like clouds,
And his ^agchariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are ^ahswifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for ^aiwe are ruined!”

14 Wash your heart from evil, Jerusalem,
So that you may be saved.
How long will your ^ajwicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from ^akDan,
And proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Report it to the nations, now!
Proclaim to Jerusalem,
‘ ^{▼▼As indicated in LXX; MT watchmen}Enemies are coming from a ^amremote country,
And ^anthey raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 ‘Like watchmen of a field they are ^aoagainst her all around,
Because she has ^aprebelled against Me,’ declares the Lord.
18 “Your ^aqways and your deeds
Have ^{▼▼Lit done}brought these things upon you.
This is your evil. How ^asbitter!
How it has touched your heart!”

Grief over Judah’s Devastation

19 ^atMy ^{▼▼Lit inward parts}soul, my ^{▼▼Lit inward parts}soul! I am in anguish! ^{▼▼Lit The walls of my heart}Oh, my heart!
My ^axheart is pounding in me;
I cannot keep silent,
Because, ^{▼▼Another reading is I have heard}my soul, you have heard
The ^azsound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20 ^baDisaster upon disaster is proclaimed,
For the ^bbwhole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ^bctents are devastated,
And my curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the flag
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “ ^bdFor My people are foolish,
They do not know Me;
They are foolish children
And have no understanding.
They are skillful at ^bedoing evil,
But they do not know how to do good.”

23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a ^{▼▼Or waste
,} ^bgformless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were ^bhquaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no human,
And all the ^bibirds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, ^{▼▼Or Carmel}the ^bkfruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

27 For this is what the Lord says:
“The ^blwhole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will ^bmnot execute a complete destruction.
28 “For this the ^bnearth will mourn,
And the ^boheavens above will become dark,
Because I have ^bpspoken, I have purposed,
And I have not ^{▼▼Or been sorry}changed My mind, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and archer ^brevery city flees;
They ^bsgo into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
^btEvery city is abandoned,
And no one lives in them.
30 And you, desolate one, ^buwhat will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you adorn yourself with jewelry of gold,
Although you ^bvenlarge your eyes with makeup,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your ^{▼▼Lit paramours
,} ^bxlovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a voice cry as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child.
The voice of the daughter of Zion ^bygasping for breath,
^bzStretching out her ^{▼▼Lit palms}hands, saying,
“Ah, woe to me, for ^{▼▼Lit my soul faints}I faint before murderers.”