| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | Christian Standard Bible |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1If you return, Israel--this is the LORD's declaration--you will return to me, if you remove your abhorrent idols from my presence and do not waver, |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2then you can swear, "As the LORD lives," in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by him and will pride themselves in him. |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among the thorns. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the ram's horn throughout the land. Cry out loudly and say: Assemble yourselves, and let's flee to the fortified cities. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6Lift up a signal flag toward Zion. Run for cover! Don't stand still! For I am bringing disaster from the north--a crushing blow. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7A lion has gone up from his thicket; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to make your land a waste. Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Because of this, put on sackcloth; mourn and wail, for the LORD's burning anger has not turned away from us. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9"On that day"--this is the LORD's declaration--"the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless." |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10I said, "Oh no, Lord GOD, you have certainly deceived this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, 'You will have peace,' while a sword is at our throats." |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11"At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, 'A searing wind blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to my dear people. It comes not to winnow or to sift; |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12a wind too strong for this comes at my call. Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.'" |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13Look, he advances like clouds; his chariots are like a storm. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined! |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14Wash the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you will be delivered. How long will you harbor malicious thoughts? |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15For a voice announces from Dan, proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Warn the nations: Look! Proclaim to Jerusalem: Those who besiege are coming from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17They have her surrounded like those who guard a field, because she has rebelled against me. This is the LORD's declaration. |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18Your way and your actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. It is very bitter, because it has reached your heart! |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in agony! Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds; I cannot be silent. For you, my soul, have heard the sound of the ram's horn--the shout of battle. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20Disaster after disaster is reported because the whole land is destroyed. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my tent curtains, in a moment. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the ram's horn? |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22"For my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good." |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty. I looked to the heavens, and their light was gone. |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills shook. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25I looked, and there was no human being, and all the birds of the sky had fled. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26I looked, and the fertile field was a wilderness. All its cities were torn down because of the LORD and his burning anger. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27For this is what the LORD says: The whole land will be a desolation, but I will not finish it off. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Because of this, the earth will mourn; the skies above will grow dark. I have spoken; I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back from it. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and the archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30And you, devastated one, what are you doing that you dress yourself in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, that you enhance your eyes with makeup? You beautify yourself for nothing. Your lovers reject you; they intend to take your life. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child. The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: "Woe is me, for my life is weary because of the murderers!" |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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