Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north the evil [which the prophets foretold as the result of national sin] will reveal itself and spill out on all the people of the land.

“Israel was holy [something set apart from ordinary purposes, consecrated] to the Lord, The first fruits of His harvest [in which no outsider was allowed to share]. All who ate of it [injuring Israel] became guilty; Evil came on them,” says the Lord.’”

“For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned (rejected) Me, The fountain of living water, And they have carved out their own cisterns, Broken cisterns That cannot hold water.

“Your own wickedness will discipline you, And your desertion of the faith will punish you. Know therefore that it is an evil and bitter thing For you to abandon (reject) the Lord your God, And for you to be indifferent to Me and dismiss the [reverent] fear of Me,” says the Lord God of hosts.

‘Will He be angry forever? Will He be indignant to the end?’ Behold, you have spoken, And you have done all the evil things [you could], And you have had your way and have carried out your wickedness.”

At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name (renown) of the Lord; and they will not walk anymore after the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart.

“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the Lord And remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way] And burn and there will be no one to quench it, Because of the evil of your acts.”

“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]! Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile], For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon), And great destruction.

For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north], And proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim.

“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah]; “They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good.”

They have lied about and denied the Lord By saying, “It is not He [who speaks through His prophets]; Misfortune and evil shall not come on us, Nor will we see war or famine.

Destruction of Jerusalem Impending

“Run for safety, you children of Benjamin, Out of the midst of Jerusalem! And blow a trumpet in Tekoa [in Judah] And raise a signal-fire in Beth-haccherem [near Jerusalem]; For evil is looking down [with eager anticipation] from the north, And great destruction.

But they did not obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but followed the counsels and the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart (mind), and [they turned and] went backward instead of forward.

Yet they did not listen to Me and obey Me or bend their ear [to hear Me], but stiffened their neck; they did more evil and behaved worse than their fathers.

For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord; “they have set their disgusting and shamefully vile things in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it.

And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to which I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

“They bend their tongue like their bow; [Their] lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me,” says the Lord.

“They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field; They cannot speak; They have to be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not be afraid of them, For they can do no harm or evil, Nor can they do any good.”

Yet they did not obey or incline their ear [to listen to Me], but everyone walked in the stubborn way of his [own] evil heart. Therefore I brought on them all [the suffering threatened in] the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”

For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil and horror against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me [to anger] by offering sacrifices and burning incense to Baal.

Thus says the Lord regarding all My evil neighbors (Gentile nations) who strike at the inheritance which I have granted to My people Israel, “Behold, I will uproot them from their land and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to evil and even trained to do it.

I will make them an object of horror to all nations of the earth because of Manasseh [the despicable] son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for the [evil and detestable] things which he did in Jerusalem.

“I will winnow (sort, separate) them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will deprive them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent and turn from their [evil] ways.

and because you have done worse [things] than your fathers. Just look, every one of you walks in the stubbornness of his own evil heart, so that you do not listen [obediently] to Me.