4 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
    ^(A)to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
    ^(B)and do not waver,
^2 (C)and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
    in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then ^(D)nations shall bless themselves in him,
    ^(E)and in him shall they glory.”

^(F)“Break up your fallow ground,
    and ^(G)sow not among thorns.
^4 (H)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
    remove the foreskin of your hearts,
    O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
^(I)lest my wrath go forth like fire,
    and burn with none to quench it,
    ^(J)because of the evil of your deeds.”

^(K)“Blow the trumpet through the land;
    cry aloud and say,
^(L)‘Assemble, and let us go
    into the fortified cities!’
^6 (M)Raise a standard toward Zion,
    flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from ^(N)the north,
    ^(O)and great destruction.
^7 (P)A lion has gone up from his thicket,
    a destroyer of nations has set out;
    he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
    your cities will be ruins
    ^(Q)without inhabitant.
⁸ For this ^(R)put on sackcloth,
    lament and wail,
for ^(S)the fierce anger of the Lord
    has not turned back from us.”

¹³ Behold, he comes up like clouds;
    ^(X)his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are ^(Y)swifter than eagles—
    woe to us, ^(Z)for we are ruined!
¹⁴ O Jerusalem, ^(AA)wash your heart from evil,
    that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
    lodge within you?
¹⁵ For a voice ^(AB)declares from Dan
    and proclaims trouble from ^(AC)Mount Ephraim.
¹⁶ Warn the nations that he is coming;
    announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come ^(AD)from a distant land;
    they shout against the cities of Judah.
¹⁷ Like keepers of a field ^(AE)are they against her all around,
    because she has rebelled against me,
declares the Lord.
¹⁸ Your ways and your deeds
    have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and ^(AF)it is bitter;
    it has reached your very heart.”

²² “For ^(AJ)my people are foolish;
    they know me not;
they are stupid children;
    they have no understanding.
^(AK)They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
    But how to do good they know not.”

²³ I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^(AL)without form and void;
    ^(AM)and to the heavens, and they had no light.
²⁴ I looked on ^(AN)the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
    and all the hills moved to and fro.
^25 (AO)I looked, and behold, there was no man,
    and all the birds of the air had fled.
²⁶ I looked, and behold, the ^(AP)fruitful land was a desert,
    and all its cities were laid in ruins
    before the Lord, before ^(AQ)his fierce anger.

^28 (AS)“For this the earth shall mourn,
    ^(AT)and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
    ^(AU)I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

²⁹ At the noise of horseman and archer
    every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
    all the cities are forsaken,
    and ^(AV)no man dwells in them.
³⁰ And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
    ^(AW)that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
    ^(AX)that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
    ^(AY)Your lovers despise you;
    they seek your life.
³¹ For I heard ^(AZ)a cry as of a woman in labor,
    anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
    ^(BA)stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”