Jeremiah 4
New King James Version
Jeremiah Laments over Judah
4 “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
(A)“Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
2 (B)And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’
(C)In truth, in [a]judgment, and in righteousness;
(D)The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they shall (E)glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
(F)“Break up your [b]fallow ground,
And (G)do not sow among thorns.
4 (H)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
An Imminent Invasion
5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
(I)“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, (J)‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6 Set up the [c]standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the (K)north,
And great destruction.”
7 (L)The lion has come up from his thicket,
And (M)the destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
(N)To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, (O)clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.
9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
(P)Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
(Q)Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’
Whereas the sword reaches to the [d]heart.”
11 At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
(R)“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
Now (S)I will also speak judgment against them.”
13 “Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And (T)his chariots like a whirlwind.
(U)His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
14 O Jerusalem, (V)wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares (W)from Dan
And proclaims [e]affliction from Mount Ephraim:
16 “Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a (X)far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 (Y)Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says the Lord.
18 “Your(Z) ways and your doings
Have procured these things for you.
This is your wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart.”
Sorrow for the Doomed Nation
19 O my (AA)soul, my soul!
I am pained in my very heart!
My heart makes a noise in me;
I cannot hold my peace,
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20 (AB)Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
Suddenly (AC)my tents are plundered,
And my curtains in a moment.
21 How long will I see the [f]standard,
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For My people are foolish,
They have not known Me.
They are [g]silly children,
And they have no understanding.
(AD)They are wise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”
23 (AE)I beheld the earth, and indeed it was (AF)without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
24 (AG)I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And (AH)all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a (AI)wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the Lord,
By His fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord:
“The whole land shall be desolate;
(AJ)Yet I will not make a full end.
28 For this (AK)shall the earth mourn,
And (AL)the heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken.
I have (AM)purposed and (AN)will not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.
Every city shall be forsaken,
And not a man shall dwell in it.
30 “And when you are plundered,
What will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
(AO)Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you will make yourself fair;
(AP)Your lovers will despise you;
They will seek your life.
31 “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in [h]labor,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;
She (AQ)spreads her hands, saying,
‘Woe is me now, for my soul is [i]weary
Because of murderers!’
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:2 justice
- Jeremiah 4:3 untilled
- Jeremiah 4:6 banner
- Jeremiah 4:10 Lit. soul
- Jeremiah 4:15 Or wickedness
- Jeremiah 4:21 banner
- Jeremiah 4:22 foolish
- Jeremiah 4:31 childbirth
- Jeremiah 4:31 faint
Jeremiah 4
New Living Translation
4 “O Israel,” says the Lord,
“if you wanted to return to me, you could.
You could throw away your detestable idols
and stray away no more.
2 Then when you swear by my name, saying,
‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
you could do so
with truth, justice, and righteousness.
Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world,
and all people would come and praise my name.”
Coming Judgment against Judah
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!
Do not waste your good seed among thorns.
4 O people of Judah and Jerusalem,
surrender your pride and power.
Change your hearts before the Lord,[a]
or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire
because of all your sins.
5 “Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem!
Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land:
‘Run for your lives!
Flee to the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem[b]:
‘Flee now! Do not delay!’
For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you
from the north.”
7 A lion stalks from its den,
a destroyer of nations.
It has left its lair and is headed your way.
It’s going to devastate your land!
Your towns will lie in ruins,
with no one living in them anymore.
8 So put on clothes of mourning
and weep with broken hearts,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
is still upon us.
9 “In that day,” says the Lord,
“the king and the officials will tremble in fear.
The priests will be struck with horror,
and the prophets will be appalled.”
10 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord,
the people have been deceived by what you said,
for you promised peace for Jerusalem.
But the sword is held at their throats!”
11 The time is coming when the Lord will say
to the people of Jerusalem,
“My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert,
and it’s not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain.
12 It is a roaring blast sent by me!
Now I will pronounce your destruction!”
13 Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds!
His chariots are like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!
14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart
that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
your evil thoughts?
15 Your destruction has been announced
from Dan and the hill country of Ephraim.
16 “Warn the surrounding nations
and announce this to Jerusalem:
The enemy is coming from a distant land,
raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah.
17 They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field,
for my people have rebelled against me,”
says the Lord.
18 “Your own actions have brought this upon you.
This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”
Jeremiah Weeps for His People
19 My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain!
My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still.
For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets
and the roar of their battle cries.
20 Waves of destruction roll over the land,
until it lies in complete desolation.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed;
in a moment my shelters are crushed.
21 How long must I see the battle flags
and hear the trumpets of war?
22 “My people are foolish
and do not know me,” says the Lord.
“They are stupid children
who have no understanding.
They are clever enough at doing wrong,
but they have no idea how to do right!”
Jeremiah’s Vision of Coming Disaster
23 I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless.
I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains and hills,
and they trembled and shook.
25 I looked, and all the people were gone.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness.
The towns lay in ruins,
crushed by the Lord’s fierce anger.
27 This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,
but I will not destroy it completely.
28 The earth will mourn
and the heavens will be draped in black
because of my decree against my people.
I have made up my mind and will not change it.”
29 At the noise of charioteers and archers,
the people flee in terror.
They hide in the bushes
and run for the mountains.
All the towns have been abandoned—
not a person remains!
30 What are you doing,
you who have been plundered?
Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing
and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara?
Your primping will do you no good!
The allies who were your lovers
despise you and seek to kill you.
31 I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor,
the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child.
It is beautiful Jerusalem[c]
gasping for breath and crying out,
“Help! I’m being murdered!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
