Jeremiah 4:1-16 ▼

1 “If you will return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh, “Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence And will not waver

2 And you will swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ In truth, in justice, and in righteousness; Then the nations will be blessed in Him, And in Him they will boast.”

3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My wrath go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it Because of the evil of your deeds.”

5 Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say, “Blow the trumpet in the land; Call out, make your voice full, and say, ‘Gather yourselves, and let us go Into the fortified cities.’

6 Lift up a standard toward Zion! Seek safety, do not stand still, For I am bringing evil from the north, And great destruction.

7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations has set out; He has gone out from his place To make your land a desolation. Your cities will be turned into ruins Without inhabitant.

8 For this, I gird myself with sackcloth, Lament and wail; For the burning anger of Yahweh Has not turned back from us.”

9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astonished.”

10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the throat.”

11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,

12 a wind too full for these things—will come for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.

13 Behold, he goes up like clouds, And his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are devastated!”

14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?

15 For a voice declares from Dan, And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.

16 “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’ Make it heard over Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers come from a far country, And give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.