Jeremiah
Chapter 4
1 If you will come back, Israel, says God, come back to me. And if you will get rid of your bad things so I can’t see them, then you will not be moved.
2 You will swear, “God is alive,” honestly, fairly, and rightly; and nations will praise themselves in him, and they will take pride in him.
3 God says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, “Prepare your unused land for planting, and do not sow seeds among thorns.”
4 Make your hearts pure for God, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my anger will burn like a fire that no one can put out because of your bad actions.
5 Announce in Judah and tell everyone in Jerusalem; say, “Sound the trumpet throughout the land: shout loudly, come together, and let’s go to the fortified cities.”
6 Raise a signal toward Zion. Get away and don’t stop, for I will bring disaster from the north, and massive destruction.
7 A lion has come out from his hiding place, and the one who destroys nations is coming; he has left his home to ruin your land; and your cities will be destroyed, with no one living in them.
8 Put on rough cloth to show you are sad, cry loudly and mourn, because God’s strong anger has not been turned away from us.
9 On that day, God says, the king will be filled with fear, and so will the princes; the priests will be shocked, and the prophets will be amazed.
10 I said, “Ah, God! You have truly misled these people and Jerusalem by telling them they will have peace, while the threat of death is so near.”
11 Then people will say to Jerusalem, “A harsh wind from the desert hills blows towards my people, not to cool or to clean them.”
12 A strong wind from there will come to me; now I will also pass judgment on them.
13 Look, he will rise like clouds, his chariots will be like a storm: his horses are faster than eagles. Trouble for us! We are ruined.
14 Jerusalem, clean your heart of evil so you can be saved. How long will your useless thoughts stay in you?
15 A voice announces from Dan, and spreads news of trouble from Mount Ephraim.
16 Tell the nations; look, announce to Jerusalem that guards are coming from a far land, and they shout against the towns of Judah.
17 They surround her like guards in a field because she has rebelled against me, says God.
18 Your actions have caused these things to happen to you; this is your wrongdoing, because it is harsh and it hurts you deeply.
19 I am in deep pain and my heart hurts; it beats loudly inside me. I cannot stay quiet because, my soul, you have heard the war trumpet’s call.
20 Destruction follows destruction; the whole land is ruined: suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains in an instant.
21 How long will I see the flag and hear the trumpet sound?
22 My people are foolish, they don’t know me; they are stupid children, without understanding. They are clever at doing wrong, but clueless about doing right.
23 I saw the earth, and it was shapeless and empty; the skies were dark with no light.
24 I saw the mountains, and look, they shook, and all the hills swayed gently.
25 I saw, and look, there was no one, and all the birds of the sky had flown away.
26 I saw that the fertile land had become a desert, and all its cities were destroyed because of God and his intense anger.
27 God has said, the whole land will be empty; but I will not completely destroy it.
28 Because of this, the earth will be sad and the sky will turn dark; for I have said it, planned it, and will not change my mind or go back on it.
29 Everyone in the city will run away because of the noise of the horsemen and archers; they will hide in the bushes and climb the rocks. Every city will be empty, and no one will live there.
30 When you are ruined, what will you do? Even if you wear red clothes, even if you put on gold jewelry, even if you put makeup on your face, it’s useless to try to look beautiful; your lovers will hate you, they will want to kill you.
31 I have heard a sound like a woman in labor, the agony of a first-time mother, the sound of Zion’s daughter crying out, stretching out her hands and saying, “I am in distress now, for I am exhausted by killers.”