Jeremiah 4:11-28

Common English Bible

¹¹ At that time, this people and Jerusalem will be told:
A blistering wind from the bare heights;
    it rages in the desert toward my people,
        not merely to winnow or cleanse.
¹²     This wind is too devastating for that.
Now I, even I, will pronounce my sentence against them.
¹³ Look! He approaches like the clouds;
        his chariots advance like a tempest,
        his horses swifter than eagles.
    How horrible! We’re doomed!
¹⁴ Cleanse your heart of evil, Jerusalem,
    that you may be saved.
    How long will you entertain your destructive ideas?
¹⁵ A voice declares from Dan;
    someone proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.
¹⁶ Warn the nations,
    proclaim it to Jerusalem!
        Armies are approaching from a far-away country,
        raising their war cries against the towns of Judah.
¹⁷ They hem her in like those guarding a field,
    because she has rebelled against me,
        declares the Lord.
¹⁸ Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you.
This is your payment and how bitter it is,
    piercing into the depths of your heart.

¹⁹ Oh, my suffering, my suffering!
    My pain is unbearable;
    my heart is in turmoil;
    it throbs nonstop.
I can’t be silent, because I hear the blast of the trumpet
    and the roar of the battle cry!
²⁰ Disaster follows disaster;
    the whole land is ruined.
Suddenly, my tents are destroyed,
    my shelter in a moment.
²¹ How long must I see the battle flags
    and hear the blast of the trumpet?
²² My people are foolish.
    They don’t even know me!
They are thoughtless children
    without understanding;
        they are skilled at doing wrong,
        inept at doing right.
²³ I looked at the earth,
    and it was without shape or form;
        at the heavens
        and there was no light.
²⁴ I looked at the mountains
    and they were quaking;
    all the hills were rocking back and forth.
²⁵ I looked and there was no one left;
    every bird in the sky had taken flight.
²⁶ I looked and the fertile land was a desert;
    all its towns were in ruins
        before the Lord,
        before his fury.
²⁷ The Lord proclaims:
    The whole earth will become a desolation,
        but I will not destroy it completely.
²⁸ Therefore, the earth will grieve
    and the heavens grow dark
        because I have declared my plan
        and will neither change my mind
            nor cancel the plan.