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Jeremiah 4-6 (Listen)
xto me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
yand do not waver,
2 zand if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then anations shall bless themselves in him,
band in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
c“Break up your fallow ground,
and dsow not among thorns.
4 eCircumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
flest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
gbecause of the evil of your deeds.”
Disaster from the North
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
h“Blow the trumpet through the land;
i‘Assemble, and let us go
6 jRaise a standard toward Zion,
for I bring disaster from kthe north,
land great destruction.
7 mA lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone out from his place
nwithout inhabitant.
8 For this oput on sackcloth,
for pthe fierce anger of the Lord
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, qcourage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, rsurely 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 sthe 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 tspeak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
uhis chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are vswifter than eagles—
woe to us, wfor we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, xwash your heart from evil,
How long shall your wicked thoughts
15 For a voice ydeclares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from zMount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
“Besiegers come afrom a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field bare they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
This is your doom, and cit is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
Anguish over Judah's Desolation
19 dMy anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
20 eCrash follows hard on crash;
fSuddenly my tents are laid waste,
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For gmy people are foolish;
hThey are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was iwithout form and void;
jand to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on kthe mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 lI looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the mfruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before nhis fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; oyet I will not make a full end.
28 p“For this the earth shall mourn,
qand the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
rI have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
and sno man dwells in them.
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
tthat you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
uthat you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
vYour lovers despise you;
31 For I heard wa 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,
xstretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
5 yRun to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
zif you can find a man,
athat I may pardon her.
2 bThough they say, “As the Lord lives,”
cyet they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
dYou have struck them down,
but they refused to take correction.
eThey have made their faces harder than rock;
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
ffor they do not know the way of the Lord,
for they know the way of the Lord,
gBut they all alike had broken the yoke;
6 Therefore ha lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a iwolf from the desert shall devastate them.
jA leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their kapostasies are great.
7 l“How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
mand have sworn by those who are no gods.
nWhen I fed them to the full,
othey committed adultery
pand trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
qeach neighing rfor his neighbor's wife.
9 sShall I not punish them for these things?
10 t“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
ubut make not a full end;
11 vFor the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
wno disaster will come upon us,
xnor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The Lord Proclaims Judgment
14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, yI am making my words in your mouth za fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15 aBehold, I am bringing against you
a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
a nation whose language you do not know,
bnor can you understand what they say.
16 cTheir quiver is like dan open tomb;
17 eThey shall eat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your ffortified cities in which you trust
they shall beat down with the sword.”
18 “But even in those days, declares the Lord, uI will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, g‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, hso you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20 Declare this in the house of Jacob;
21 “Hear this, iO foolish and senseless people,
jwho have eyes, but see not,
22 kDo you not fear me? declares the Lord.
I placed the sand las the boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
though mthey roar, they cannot pass over it.
23 nBut this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
owho gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
pthe weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 qYour iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
rthey lurk like fowlers lying in wait.1
sThey set a trap;
their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28 tthey have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
uthey judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 vShall I not punish them for these things?
30 An appalling and whorrible thing
31 xthe prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
ymy people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
Impending Disaster for Jerusalem
6 Flee for safety, zO people of Benjamin,
Blow the trumpet in aTekoa,
and raise a signal on bBeth-haccherem,
for disaster looms cout of the north,
2 The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
3 eShepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
fthey shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, each in his place.
4 g“Prepare war against her;
arise, and let us attack hat noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
for the shadows of evening lengthen!
5 Arise, and let us attack by night
6 For thus says the Lord of hosts:
i“Cut down her trees;
jcast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be kpunished;
there is nothing but oppression within her.
7 lAs a well keeps its water fresh,
mviolence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
nlest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you oa desolation,
9 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
p“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
like a grape gatherer pass your hand again
10 qTo whom shall I speak and give warning,
rBehold, their ears are uncircumcised,
sthey cannot listen;
behold, tthe word of the Lord is to them an object of scorn;
11 Therefore I am full of the wrath of the Lord;
uI am weary of holding it in.
v“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
wboth husband and wife xshall be taken,
the elderly and the very aged.
12 yTheir houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,”
13 z“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone ais greedy for unjust gain;
and from bprophet to priest,
14 They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, c‘Peace, peace,’
dwhen there is no peace.
15 eWere they ashamed when they committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed;
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
fat the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for gthe ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
hand find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 iI set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to jthe sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, k‘We will not pay attention.’
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19 Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
lthe fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
20 mWhat use to me is nfrankincense that comes from oSheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
pYour burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord:
q‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
r“Behold, a people is coming sfrom the north country,
a great nation is stirring from tthe farthest parts of the earth.
23 They lay hold on bow and javelin;
they are ucruel and have no mercy;
vthe sound of them is like the roaring sea;
set in array as a man for battle,
against you, O daughter of Zion!”
24 We have heard the report of it;
wour hands fall helpless;
xpain as of a woman in labor.
yterror is on every side.
26 O daughter of my people, zput on sackcloth,
and aroll in ashes;
bmake mourning as for an only son,
27 “I have made you ca tester of metals among my people,
that you may know and dtest their ways.
28 eThey are all stubbornly rebellious,
fgoing about with slanders;
they are gbronze and iron;
29 The gbellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
hin vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
30 iRejected silver they are called,
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