CHAPTER 4
“If
you will return,
O Israel,
return
to Me,”
declares
the LORD.
“If
you will remove
your detestable idols
from My sight
and no longer
waver,
and if you can swear,
‘As surely as the LORD
lives,’
in truth,
in justice,
and in righteousness,
then the nations
will be blessed by Him,
and in Him
they will glory.”
For
this is what
the LORD
says
to the men
of Judah
and Jerusalem:
“Break up
your unplowed ground,
and do not
sow
among
the thorns.
Circumcise yourselves
to the LORD,
remove
the foreskins
of your hearts,
O men
of Judah
and people
of Jerusalem.
Otherwise,
My wrath
will break out
like fire
and burn
with no
one to extinguish it,
because of
your evil
deeds.”
Announce
in Judah,
proclaim
in Jerusalem,
and say:
“Blow
the trumpet
in the land.
Cry aloud
and say,
‘Assemble yourselves
and let us flee
to
the fortified
cities.’
Raise
a signal flag
toward Zion.
Seek refuge!
Do not
delay!
For
I
am bringing
disaster
from the north,
and terrible
destruction.
A lion
has gone up
from his thicket,
and a destroyer
of nations
has set out.
He has left
his lair
to lay
waste
to your land.
Your cities
will be reduced
to ruins
and lie uninhabited.
So
put on
sackcloth,
mourn
and wail,
for
the fierce
anger
of the LORD
has not
turned away
from us.”
“In that
day,”
declares
the LORD,
“the king
and officials
will lose
their courage.
The priests
will tremble in fear,
and the prophets
will be astounded.”
Then I said,
“Ah,
Lord
GOD,
how completely
You have deceived
this
people
and Jerusalem
by saying,
‘You will have
peace,’
when a sword
is at
our throats.”
At that
time
it will be said
to this
people
and to Jerusalem,
“A searing
wind
from the barren heights
in the desert
blows toward
the daughter
of My people,
but not
to winnow
or to sift;
Behold,
he advances
like the clouds,
his chariots
like the whirlwind.
His horses
are swifter
than eagles.
Woe to us,
for
we are ruined!
Wash
the evil
from your heart,
O Jerusalem,
so that
you may be saved.
How long
will you harbor
wicked
thoughts
within you?
Warn
the nations
now!
Proclaim
to
Jerusalem:
“A besieging army
comes
from a distant
land;
they raise
their voices
against
the cities
of Judah.
They surround her
like men guarding
a field,
because
she has rebelled against Me,
declares
the LORD.
Your ways
and your deeds
have brought
this upon you.
This
is your punishment.
How bitter it is,
because
it pierces
to the
heart!”
My anguish,
my anguish!
I writhe in pain!
Oh, the pain
in my chest!
My heart
pounds
within me;
I cannot
be silent.
For
I
have heard
the sound
of the trumpet,
the alarm
of battle.
Disaster
after
disaster
is proclaimed,
for
the whole
land
is laid waste.
My tents
are destroyed
in an instant,
my curtains
in a moment.
“For
My people
are fools;
they have not
known Me.
They
are foolish
children,
without
understanding.
They
are skilled
in doing evil,
but they do not
know
how to do good.”
I looked
at the earth,
and it was formless
and empty;
I looked to
the heavens,
and they had no
light.
I looked,
and the fertile field
was a desert.
All
its cities
were torn down
before
the LORD,
before
His fierce
anger.
For
this is what
the LORD
says:
“The whole
land
will be
desolate,
but I will not
finish its destruction.
Therefore
the earth
will mourn
and the heavens
above
grow dark.
I have spoken,
I have planned,
and I will not
relent
or turn back.
Every
city
flees
at the sound
of the horseman
and archer.
They enter
the thickets
and climb
among the rocks.
Every
city
is abandoned;
no
inhabitant is left.
And you,
O devastated
one,
what will you do,
though
you dress
yourself in scarlet,
though
you adorn
yourself with gold
jewelry,
though
you enlarge
your eyes
with paint?
You adorn yourself
in vain;
your lovers
despise you;
they want to take
your life.
I hear
a cry
like a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish
like one bearing her first child—
the cry
of the Daughter
of Zion
gasping for breath,
stretching out
her hands:
‘Woe is me,
for
my soul
faints
before the murderers!’”