Jeremiah 4

1“If you return, O Israel,

declares the Lord,
^ato me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
^band do not waver,
2 ^cand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then ^dnations shall bless themselves in him,
^eand in him shall they glory.”
3For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

^f“Break up your fallow ground,
and ^gsow not among thorns.
4 ^hCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
ⁱlest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
^jbecause of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

^k“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
^l‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 ^mRaise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from ⁿthe north,
^oand great destruction.
7 ^pA 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
^qwithout inhabitant.
8For this ^rput on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for ^sthe fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9“In that day, declares the Lord, ^tcourage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, ^usurely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from ^vthe bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who ^wspeak in judgment upon them.”

13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
^xhis chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are ^yswifter than eagles—
woe to us, ^zfor we are ruined!
14O Jerusalem, ^aawash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15For a voice ^abdeclares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from ^acMount Ephraim.
16Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come ^adfrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17Like keepers of a field ^aeare they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,

declares the Lord.
18Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and ^afit is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 ^agMy 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 ^ahCrash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
^aiSuddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For ^ajmy people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
^akThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^alwithout form and void;
^amand to the heavens, and they had no light.
24I looked on ^anthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 ^aoI looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26I looked, and behold, the ^apfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before ^aqhis fierce anger.
27For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; ^aryet I will not make a full end.

28 ^as“For this the earth shall mourn,
^atand the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
^auI 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 ^avno man dwells in them.
30And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
^awthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
^axthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
^ayYour lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31For I heard ^aza 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,
^bastretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

Jeremiah 22

1Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, 2and say, ^bb‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. 3Thus says the Lord: ^bcDo justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^bddo no wrong or violence ^beto the resident alien, ^bfthe fatherless, and the widow, nor ^bgshed innocent blood in this place. 4For if you will indeed obey this word, ^bhthen there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. 5But if you will not obey these words, I ^biswear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^bjthis house shall become a desolation. 6For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

“‘You are like Gilead to me,
like the summit of ^bkLebanon,
yet surely I will make you a desert,
^blan uninhabited city. ▼

▼Hebrew cities

7 ^bnI will prepare destroyers against you,
each with his weapons,
^boand they shall cut down your choicest cedars
and cast them into the fire.
8“‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ^bp“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” 9 ^bqAnd they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

10 ^brWeep not for him who is dead,
nor grieve for him,
^bsbut weep bitterly for him who goes away,
for he shall return no more
to see his native land.

Message to the Sons of Josiah

11For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^btwho went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, 12but ^buin the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

13 ^bv“Woe to him who builds his house by ^bwunrighteousness,
and his upper rooms by injustice,
^bxwho makes his neighbor serve him for nothing
and does not give him his wages,
14who says, ‘I will build myself a great house
with spacious upper rooms,’
who cuts out windows for it,
paneling it with cedar
and ^bypainting it with vermilion.
15Do you think you are a king
because you compete in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink
and ^bzdo justice and righteousness?
^caThen it was well with him.
16 ^cbHe judged the cause of the poor and needy;
^ccthen it was well.
Is not this ^cdto know me?
declares the Lord.
17But you have eyes and heart
only for your dishonest gain,
^cefor shedding innocent blood,
and for practicing oppression and violence.”
18Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^cf“They shall not lament for him, saying,
^cg‘Ah, my brother!’ or ‘Ah, sister!’
They shall not lament for him, saying,
^ch‘Ah, lord!’ or ‘Ah, his majesty!’
19With the burial of a donkey ^cihe shall be buried,
dragged and dumped beyond the gates of Jerusalem.”
20 “Go up to Lebanon, and cry out,
and lift up your voice in Bashan;
cry out from ^cjAbarim,
for all ^ckyour lovers are destroyed.
21I spoke to you in your prosperity,
but you said, ‘I will not listen.’
^clThis has been your way from ^cmyour youth,
that you have not obeyed my voice.
22 ^cnThe wind shall shepherd all your shepherds,
and ^coyour lovers shall go into captivity;
^cpthen you will be ashamed and confounded
because of all your evil.
23O inhabitant of ^cqLebanon,
nested among the cedars,
how you will be pitied when pangs come upon you,
^crpain as of a woman in labor!”
24 ^cs“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^ctthe signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off 25and ^cugive you ^cvinto the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 ^cwI will hurl you and ^cxthe mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. 27But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

28 Is this man ^cyConiah a despised, broken pot,
a ^czvessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a ^daland that they do not know?
29 ^dbO land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
30Thus says the Lord:
“Write this man down as ^dcchildless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
^ddfor none of his offspring shall succeed
^dein sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.”