Jeremiah 4:14-5:6

New International Version

¹⁴ Jerusalem, wash^(A) the evil from your heart and be saved.^(B)
    How long^(C) will you harbor wicked thoughts?
¹⁵ A voice is announcing from Dan,^(D)
    proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.^(E)
16 “Tell this to the nations,
    proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,^(F)
    raising a war cry^(G) against the cities of Judah.^(H)
17 They surround^(I) her like men guarding a field,
    because she has rebelled^(J) against me,’”
declares the Lord.
¹⁸ “Your own conduct and actions^(K)
    have brought this on you.^(L)
This is your punishment.
    How bitter^(M) it is!
    How it pierces to the heart!”

¹⁹ Oh, my anguish, my anguish!^(N)
    I writhe in pain.^(O)
Oh, the agony of my heart!
    My heart pounds^(P) within me,
    I cannot keep silent.^(Q)
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;^(R)
    I have heard the battle cry.^(S)
20 Disaster follows disaster;^(T)
    the whole land lies in ruins.^(U)
In an instant my tents^(V) are destroyed,
    my shelter in a moment.
²¹ How long must I see the battle standard^(W)
    and hear the sound of the trumpet?^(X)

²² “My people are fools;^(Y)
    they do not know me.^(Z)
They are senseless children;
    they have no understanding.^(AA)
They are skilled in doing evil;^(AB)
    they know not how to do good.”^(AC)

²³ I looked at the earth,
    and it was formless and empty;^(AD)
and at the heavens,
    and their light^(AE) was gone.
²⁴ I looked at the mountains,
    and they were quaking;^(AF)
    all the hills were swaying.
²⁵ I looked, and there were no people;
    every bird in the sky had flown away.^(AG)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;^(AH)
    all its towns lay in ruins^(AI)
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.^(AJ)

“The whole land will be ruined,^(AK)
    though I will not destroy^(AL) it completely.
²⁸ Therefore the earth will mourn^(AM)
    and the heavens above grow dark,^(AN)
because I have spoken and will not relent,^(AO)
    I have decided and will not turn back.^(AP)”

²⁹ At the sound of horsemen and archers^(AQ)
    every town takes to flight.^(AR)
Some go into the thickets;
    some climb up among the rocks.^(AS)
All the towns are deserted;^(AT)
    no one lives in them.

³⁰ What are you doing,^(AU) you devastated one?
    Why dress yourself in scarlet
    and put on jewels^(AV) of gold?
Why highlight your eyes with makeup?^(AW)
    You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers^(AX) despise you;
    they want to kill you.^(AY)

³¹ I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,^(AZ)
    a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Zion^(BA) gasping for breath,^(BB)
    stretching out her hands^(BC) and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
    my life is given over to murderers.”^(BD)

³ Lord, do not your eyes^(BL) look for truth?
    You struck^(BM) them, but they felt no pain;
    you crushed them, but they refused correction.^(BN)
They made their faces harder than stone^(BO)
    and refused to repent.^(BP)
4 I thought, “These are only the poor;
    they are foolish,^(BQ)
for they do not know^(BR) the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.
⁵ So I will go to the leaders^(BS)
    and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.”
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
    and torn off the bonds.^(BT)
6 Therefore a lion from the forest^(BU) will attack them,
    a wolf from the desert will ravage^(BV) them,
a leopard^(BW) will lie in wait near their towns
    to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
    and their backslidings many.^(BX)