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 9

1 ▼

▼Ch 8:23 in Hebrew

^bcOh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of ^bdthe daughter of my people!
2 ▼

▼Ch 9:1 in Hebrew

Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers’ lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all ^bfadulterers,
a company of ^bgtreacherous men.
3 ^bhThey bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong ▼

▼Septuagint; Hebrew  and not for truth they have grown strong

in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
^bjand they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 ^bkLet everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every ^blbrother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor ^bmgoes about as a slanderer.
5Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
^bnthey refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, ^boI will refine them and ^bptest them,
for what else can I do, ^bqbecause of my people?
8 ^brTheir tongue is a deadly arrow;
^bsit speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth ^bteach speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart ^buhe plans an ambush for him.
9 ^bvShall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for ^bwthe pastures of the wilderness,
^bxbecause they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
^byboth the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 ^bzI will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
^caa lair of jackals,
^cband I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 ^ccWho is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined ^cdand laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13And the Lord says: ^ce“Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14but ^cfhave stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^cgBehold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them ^chpoisonous water to drink. 16 ^ciI will scatter them among the nations ^cjwhom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will ^cksend the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
^cl“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18let them make haste ^cmand raise a wailing over us,
^cnthat our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
^co‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
^cpcutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
^cq‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
^crlike sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23Thus says the Lord: ^cs“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but ^ctlet him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. ^cuFor in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

25“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^cvI will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 ^cwEgypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^cxall who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^cyuncircumcised in heart.”