Old Testament · Prophets

Jeremiah chapter 4

“If you , Israel” — this is Yahweh’s declaration — “come back to me. If you throw out your from my sight and stop your wandering,”“and if you swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ — then the nations will find their own through him, and in him they will boast.”This is what Yahweh says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “, don’t scatter seed among thorns.”“ for Yahweh — strip away the hard covering from your hearts, people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem — or my will erupt like fire and burn with no one able to put it out, because of the evil things you’ve done.”“Announce it in Judah, broadcast it in Jerusalem, say: ‘Blow the across the land!’ Shout at full voice and say: ‘Gather together! Let’s get into the fortified cities!’”“Raise the toward Zion! Run for cover, don’t just stand there! Because I am bringing — a massive destruction.”“A has come up from its thicket, a has set out. He has left his place to turn your land into a wasteland. Your cities will be torn apart, left without anyone living in them.”“Because of this, wrap yourselves in , grieve and wail, because the burning fury of Yahweh has not turned away from us.”“On that day” — this is Yahweh’s declaration — “the king will , the officials too. The priests will be horrified and the prophets will be in shock.”Then I said, “Oh, Lord Yahweh! You have completely this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have ’ — but the sword is at our throats!”At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: “A from the bare heights in the desert blows toward my people — not to , not to clean the grain —““a wind too fierce for that comes at my command. Now I myself will pronounce against them.”“Look — he rises like storm clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are faster than . We’re finished! We’re done for!”“ the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so you can be . How long will you let twisted schemes live inside you?”“Listen — a voice is reporting from , announcing trouble from the :”“Warn the nations: ‘Look, they’re coming!’ Announce it over Jerusalem: ‘ are coming from a distant land, raising their war cry against the cities of Judah.’”“Like guards around a field, they surround her, because she has against me” — this is Yahweh’s declaration.“Your own choices, your own actions — these have done this to you. This is your own , and it has cut you to the heart.”, my insides! I’m in pain! The walls of my heart! My heart is pounding — I can’t stay silent! Because you, my whole being, have heard the ram’s horn, the alarm of war., the whole land is devastated. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelters torn apart in a moment.How long must I see the signal flag, must I hear the ram’s horn?“My people are — they . They are senseless children with no understanding. They are experts at doing evil but don’t know how to do good.”I looked at the earth — it was . At the sky — its light was gone.I looked at the mountains — they were , and all the hills were .I looked — and there was . Every bird in the sky had fled.I looked — and the was a desert, and all its cities were torn down before Yahweh, before his .This is what Yahweh has said: “The whole land will be a wasteland, but I will not make a of it.”Because of this the earth will and the sky above will grow dark, because I have spoken, I have decided, I have not and I will not turn back from it.At the sound of horsemen and archers every city runs. They dive into the thickets, they climb up the rocks. Every city is — not a single person is left in them.And you, devastated one — what are you doing dressing in scarlet, decking yourself with gold jewelry, ? You’re making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your despise you — they want your life.I hear a cry like a , anguish like someone giving birth for the first time — the cry of gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: “I’m dying! My life is falling into the hands of killers!”