Jeremiah 4-5

1“If you, Israel, will return, then return to me,” declares the LORD . “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,

2and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast.”

3This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.

Disaster From the North 5“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Cry aloud and say: ‘Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!’

6Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.”

7A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant.

8So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.

9“In that day,” declares the LORD, “the king and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.”

10Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD ! How completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats!” 11At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse;

12a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”

13Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!

14Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?

15A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

16“Tell this to the nations, proclaim concerning Jerusalem: ‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.

17They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,’ ” declares the LORD .

18“Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”

19Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.

20Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.

21How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22“My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”

23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.

24I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.

26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

27This is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.

28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.”

29At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them.

30What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why highlight your eyes with makeup? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they want to kill you. 31I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child— the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, “Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.”

Not One Is Upright 1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.

2Although they say, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ still they are swearing falsely.”

3LORD, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.

4I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.

5So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the LORD, the requirements of their God.” But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds.

6Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.

7“Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.

8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife.

9Should I not punish them for this?” declares the LORD . “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

10“Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the LORD .

11The people of Israel and the people of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the LORD .

12They have lied about the LORD ; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine.

13The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”

14Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says: “Because the people have spoken these words, I will make my words in your mouth a fire and these people the wood it consumes.

15People of Israel,” declares the LORD, “I am bringing a distant nation against you— an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand.

16Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors.

17They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust. 18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not destroy you completely.

19And when the people ask, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.’

20“Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:

21Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:

22Should you not fear me?” declares the LORD . “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.

23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.

24They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’

25Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.

26“Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people.

27Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful

28and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor.

29Should I not punish them for this?” declares the LORD . “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

30“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?