Jer 4 | NASB1995 | STEP | “ If you will return , O Israel ,” declares the Lord , “ Then you should return to Me. And if you will put away your detested things from My presence , And will not waver ,

‏ Jeremiah 4

Judah Threatened with Invasion

1 “If you will ^areturn, O Israel,” declares the Lord,
“Then you should return to Me.
And ^bif you will put away your detested things from My presence,
And will not waver,
2 And you will ^cswear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
^dIn truth, in justice and in righteousness;
Then the ^enations will bless themselves in Him,
And ^fin Him they will glory.”

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, ^{▼▼ Lit Plow for yourselves plowed ground
,} ^h“Break up your fallow ground,
And ⁱdo not sow among thorns.
4 ^j“Circumcise yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My ^kwrath will go forth like fire
And burn with ^lnone to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds.”

5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
^m“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘ ⁿAssemble yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 “Lift up a ^ostandard toward Zion!
Seek refuge, do not stand still,
For I am bringing ^pevil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 “A ^qlion has gone up from his thicket,
And a ^rdestroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To ^smake your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 “For this, ^tput on sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the ^ufierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”

9 “It shall come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “that the ^vheart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the ^wprophets will be astounded.”

10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord ^{▼▼ Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord}God! Surely You have utterly ^ydeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘ ^zYou will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the ^{▼▼ Or life}throat.”

11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A ^abscorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people— not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too strong for ^{▼▼ Lit these}this— will come ^{▼▼ Lit for Me}at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them. 13 “Behold, he ^aegoes up like clouds,
And his ^afchariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are ^agswifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for ^ahwe are ruined!”

14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your ^aiwicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from ^ajDan,
And proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Report it to the nations, now!
Proclaim over Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a ^akfar country,
And ^allift their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 ‘Like watchmen of a field they are ^amagainst her round about,
Because she has ^anrebelled against Me,’ declares the Lord.
18 “Your ^aoways and your deeds
Have ^{▼▼ Lit done}brought these things to you.
This is your evil. How ^aqbitter!
How it has touched your heart!”

Lament over Judah’s Devastation

19 ^arMy ^{▼▼ Lit inward parts}soul, my ^{▼▼ Lit inward parts}soul! I am in anguish! ^{▼▼ Lit The walls of my heart}Oh, my heart!
My ^avheart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent,
Because ^{▼▼ Or I, my soul, heard}you have heard, O my soul,
The ^axsound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20 ^ayDisaster on disaster is proclaimed,
For the ^azwhole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ^batents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 ^bb“For My people are foolish,
They know Me not;
They are stupid children
And have no understanding.
They are shrewd to ^bcdo evil,
But to do good they do not know.”

23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^{▼▼ Or a waste and emptiness
,} ^be formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were ^bfquaking,
And all the hills ^{▼▼ Lit moved lightly}moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man,
And all the ^bhbirds of the heavens had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, ^{▼▼ Or Carmel}the ^bjfruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

27 For thus says the Lord,
“The ^bkwhole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will ^blnot execute a complete destruction.
28 “For this the ^bmearth shall mourn
And the ^bnheavens above be dark,
Because I have ^bospoken, I have purposed,
And I will not ^{▼▼ Lit be sorry}change My mind, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman ^bqevery city flees;
They ^brgo into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
^bsEvery city is forsaken,
And no man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one, ^btwhat will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you ^buenlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your ^{▼▼ Lit paramours
,} ^bwlovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a ^{▼▼ Lit sound}cry as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
The ^{▼▼ Lit sound}cry of the daughter of Zion ^bzgasping for breath,
^caStretching out her ^{▼▼ Lit palms}hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for ^{▼▼ Lit my soul faints}I faint before murderers.”