Jeremiah 4:5-5:13
English Standard Version
Disaster from the North
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
(A)“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
(B)‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 (C)Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from (D)the north,
(E)and great destruction.
7 (F)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
(G)without inhabitant.
8 For this (H)put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for (I)the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, (J)courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, (K)surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from (L)the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who (M)speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds;
(N)his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are (O)swifter than eagles—
woe to us, (P)for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, (Q)wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice (R)declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from (S)Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come (T)from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field (U)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 (V)it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
Anguish over Judah's Desolation
19 (W)My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 (X)Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
(Y)Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For (Z)my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
(AA)They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was (AB)without form and void;
(AC)and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on (AD)the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 (AE)I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the (AF)fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before (AG)his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; (AH)yet I will not make a full end.
28 (AI)“For this the earth shall mourn,
(AJ)and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
(AK)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 (AL)no man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
(AM)that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
(AN)that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
(AO)Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard (AP)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,
(AQ)stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
5 (AR)Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
(AS)if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
(AT)that I may pardon her.
2 (AU)Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
(AV)yet they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
(AW)You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
(AX)They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
(AY)for they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.”
(AZ)But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.
6 Therefore (BA)a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a (BB)wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
(BC)A leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their (BD)apostasies are great.
7 (BE)“How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
(BF)and have sworn by those who are no gods.
(BG)When I fed them to the full,
(BH)they committed adultery
(BI)and trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
(BJ)each neighing (BK)for his neighbor's wife.
9 (BL)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 (BM)“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
(BN)but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the Lord's.
11 (BO)For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the Lord.
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
(BP)no disaster will come upon us,
(BQ)nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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