Jeremiah 4:10-31
Christian Standard Bible
10 I said, “Oh no, Lord God, you have certainly deceived(A) this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’(B) while a sword is at[a] our throats.”
11 “At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind(C) blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to my dear[b] people. It comes not to winnow or to sift; 12 a wind too strong for this comes at my call.[c] Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.’”(D)
13 Look, he advances like clouds;(E)
his chariots are like a storm.(F)
His horses are swifter than eagles.(G)
Woe to us, for we are ruined!(H)
14 Wash the evil from your heart,(I) Jerusalem,
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts?(J)
15 For a voice announces from Dan,
proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations: Look!
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;(K)
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
17 They have her surrounded(L)
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against me.(M)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
18 Your way and your actions
have brought this on you.(N)
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
Jeremiah’s Lament
19 My anguish, my anguish![d] I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in[e] my heart!(O)
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
20 Disaster after disaster(P) is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21 How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22 “For my people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.(Q)
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”(R)
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.(S)
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.(T)
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(U)
all the hills shook.
25 I looked, and there was no human being,(V)
and all the birds of the sky had fled.(W)
26 I looked, and the fertile field(X) was a wilderness.(Y)
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and his burning anger.(Z)
27 For this is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be a desolation,(AA)
but I will not finish it off.(AB)
28 Because of this, the earth will mourn;(AC)
the skies above will grow dark.(AD)
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.”(AE)
29 Every city flees(AF)
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.(AG)
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
30 And you, devastated one, what are you doing(AH)
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enhance your eyes with makeup?(AI)
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;(AJ)
they intend to take your life.(AK)
31 I hear a cry like a woman in labor,(AL)
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:(AM)
“Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!”
Jeremiah 5
Christian Standard Bible
The Depravity of Jerusalem
5 Roam(A) through the streets of Jerusalem.
Investigate;[a]
search in her squares.
If you find one person,(B)
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
then I will forgive her.(C)
2 When they say, “As the Lord lives,”(D)
they are swearing falsely.(E)
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?(F)
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.(G)
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.(H)
They made their faces harder than rock,(I)
and they refused to return.(J)
4 Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have been foolish.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,(K)
the justice of their God.(L)
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(M)
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.(N)
6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.(O)
A wolf from arid plains will ravage them.
A leopard(P) stalks their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,(Q)
their unfaithful deeds numerous.(R)
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by those who are not gods.(S)
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;(T)
they gashed themselves(U) at the[b] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[c] eager[d] stallions,(V)
each neighing(W) after someone else’s wife.(X)
9 Should I not punish them for these things?(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself(Z)
on such a nation as this?
10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,(AA)
but do not finish them off.(AB)
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.(AC)
11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with me.(AD)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen.[e](AE)
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13 The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Armies says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make my words
become fire in your mouth.(AF)
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.(AG)
15 I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,(AH)
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.(AI)
16 Their quiver is like an open grave;(AJ)
they are all warriors.
17 They will consume your harvest and your food.(AK)
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
With the sword they will destroy
your fortified cities(AL) in which you trust.
18 “But even in those days”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will not finish you off.(AM) 19 When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them, ‘Just as you abandoned me(AN) and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’(AO)
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 Hear this,
you foolish and senseless[f] people.(AP)
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.(AQ)
22 Do you not fear me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before me,
the one who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?(AR)
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.(AS)
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,(AT)
who gives the seasonal rains, both autumn and spring,(AU)
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25 Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld my bounty from you,(AV)
26 for wicked men live among my people.
They watch like hunters[g] lying in wait.[h](AW)
They set a trap;(AX)
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.(AY)
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat(AZ) and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.(BA)
29 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself(BB)
on such a nation as this?
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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