The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Jeremiah 04
1 “If you will return, Israel,” says Yahweh,
“if you will return to me, and if you
will put away your abominations out of my
sight; then you will not be removed;
2 and you will swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness.
The nations will bless themselves in him,
and they will glory in him.”
3 For Yahweh says to the men of Judah
and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow
ground, and don’t sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and
take away the foreskins of your heart,
you men of Judah and inhabitants of
Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire,
and burn so that no one can quench it,
because of the evil of your doings.
5 Declare in Judah, and publish in
Jerusalem; and say, ‘Blow the trumpet in
the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble
yourselves! Let’s go into the fortified
cities!’
6 Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for
safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evilfrom
the north, and a great destruction.”
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket, and
a destroyer of nations. He is on his way.
He has gone out from his place, to make
your land desolate, that your cities be laid
waste, without inhabitant.
8 For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth,
lament and wail; for the fierce anger of
Yahweh hasn’t turned back from us.
9 “It will happen at that day,” says Yahweh,
“that the heart of the king will perish,
along with the heart of the princes.
The priests will be astonished, and the
prophets will wonder.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely
you have greatly deceived this people and
Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace;’
whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11 Atthattime it willbe saidto thispeople
and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind blows from
the bare heights in the wilderness toward
the daughter of my people, not to winnow,
nor to cleanse.
12 A full wind from these will come
for me. Now I will also utter judgments
against them.”
13 Behold, he will come up as clouds, and
his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His
horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us!
For we are ruined.
14 Jerusalem, wash your heart from
wickedness, that you may be saved. How
long will your evil thoughts lodge within
you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan, and
publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:
16 “Tell the nations, behold, publish
against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a
far country, and raise their voice against
the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, they are against
her all around, because shehas beenrebellious
against me,’ ” says Yahweh.
18 “Your way and your doings have
brought these things to you. This is your
wickedness, for it is bitter, for it reaches to
your heart.”
19 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained
at my very heart! My heart trembles
within me. I can’t hold my peace, because
you have heard, O my soul, the sound of
the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction on destruction is decreed,
for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly
my tents are destroyed, and my curtains
gone in a moment.
21 How long will I see the standard and
hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For my people are foolish. They don’t
know me. They are foolish children, and
they have no understanding. They are
skillful in doing evil, but they don’t know
how to do good.”
23 I saw the earth and, behold, it was
waste and void, and the heavens, and they
had no light.
24 I saw the mountains, and behold, they
trembled, and all the hills moved back and
forth.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold,the fruitfulfield was
a wilderness, and all its cities were broken
down at the presence of Yahweh, before
his fierce anger.
27 For Yahweh says, “The whole land will
be a desolation; yet I will not make a full
end.
28 For this the earth will mourn, and the
heavens above be black, because I have
spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not
repented, neither will I turn back from it.”
29 Every city flees for the noise of the
horsemen and archers. They go into the
thickets and climb up on the rocks.
Every city is forsaken, and not
a man dwells therein.
30 You, when you are made desolate,
what will you do? Though you clothe
yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself
with ornaments of gold, though you
enlarge your eyes with makeup, you make
yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers
despise you. They seek your life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman
in travail, the anguish as of her who gives
birth to her first child, the voice of the
daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath,
who spreads her hands, saying, “Woe is
me now! For my soul faints before the
murderers.”