Jer 4, Jer 27 | ESV | STEP | 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 ,

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.”
3 For 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

5 Declare 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.
8 For 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.” 10 Then 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.”

11 At 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, 12 a 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!
14 O Jerusalem, ^aawash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice ^abdeclares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from ^acMount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come ^adfrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field ^aeare 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 ^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.
21 How 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.
24 I 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.
26 I looked, and behold, the ^apfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before ^aqhis fierce anger.
27 For 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.
30 And 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.
31 For 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 27

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah ^{▼▼Or Jehoiakim} the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2 Thus the Lord said to me: ^bc“Make yourself straps and ^bdyoke-bars, and put them on your neck. 3 Send word ^{▼▼Hebrew Send them} to the king of ^bfEdom, the king of ^bgMoab, the king of the sons of ^bhAmmon, the king of ^biTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: 5 “It is I who ^bjby my great power and my outstretched arm ^bkhave made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, ^bland I give it to whomever it seems right to me. 6 ^bmNow I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ^bnmy servant, ^boand I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 ^bpAll the nations shall serve him and ^bqhis son and ^brhis grandson, ^bsuntil the time of his own land comes. ^btThen many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8 “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^buand put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation ^bvwith the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. 9 So ^bwdo not listen to your ^bxprophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your ^byfortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 ^bzFor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 ^caBut any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

12 To ^cbZedekiah king of Judah I spoke in like manner: ^cc“Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and ^cdserve him and his people and live. 13 ^ceWhy will you and your people die ^cfby the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^cgas the Lord has spoken concerning any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 ^chDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ ^cifor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, declares the Lord, but ^cjthey are prophesying falsely in my name, with the result that I will drive you out and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.”

16 Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ^ckDo not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ^cl‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord’s house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon,’ ^cmfor it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. 17 ^cnDo not listen to them; ^coserve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ^cpbecome a desolation? 18 If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then ^cqlet them intercede with the Lord of hosts, ^crthat the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. 19 ^csFor thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ^ctwhen he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^cuconcerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 ^cvThey shall be carried to Babylon ^cwand remain there ^cxuntil the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^cyThen I will bring them back ^czand restore them to this place.”