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Jeremiah 4
New International Version
Jeremiah 4
New International Version
4 “If you, Israel, will return,(A)
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols(B) out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear,(C) ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’(D)
then the nations will invoke blessings(E) by him
and in him they will boast.(F)”
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground(G)
and do not sow among thorns.(H)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,(I)
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath(J) will flare up and burn like fire(K)
because of the evil(L) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(M) it.
Disaster From the North
5 “Announce in Judah and proclaim(N) in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpet(O) throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’(P)
6 Raise the signal(Q) to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster(R) from the north,(S)
even terrible destruction.”
7 A lion(T) has come out of his lair;(U)
a destroyer(V) of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste(W) your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins(X)
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,(Y)
lament(Z) and wail,
for the fierce anger(AA) of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,(AB)
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”(AC)
10 Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived(AD) this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’(AE) when the sword is at our throats!”
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind(AF) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind(AG) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments(AH) against them.”
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,(AI)
his chariots(AJ) come like a whirlwind,(AK)
his horses(AL) are swifter than eagles.(AM)
Woe to us! We are ruined!(AN)
14 Jerusalem, wash(AO) the evil from your heart and be saved.(AP)
How long(AQ) will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,(AR)
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.(AS)
16 “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,(AT)
raising a war cry(AU) against the cities of Judah.(AV)
17 They surround(AW) her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled(AX) against me,’”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your own conduct and actions(AY)
have brought this on you.(AZ)
This is your punishment.
How bitter(BA) it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”
19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!(BB)
I writhe in pain.(BC)
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds(BD) within me,
I cannot keep silent.(BE)
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;(BF)
I have heard the battle cry.(BG)
20 Disaster follows disaster;(BH)
the whole land lies in ruins.(BI)
In an instant my tents(BJ) are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I see the battle standard(BK)
and hear the sound of the trumpet?(BL)
22 “My people are fools;(BM)
they do not know me.(BN)
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.(BO)
They are skilled in doing evil;(BP)
they know not how to do good.”(BQ)
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;(BR)
and at the heavens,
and their light(BS) was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(BT)
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.(BU)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;(BV)
all its towns lay in ruins(BW)
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.(BX)
27 This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,(BY)
though I will not destroy(BZ) it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourn(CA)
and the heavens above grow dark,(CB)
because I have spoken and will not relent,(CC)
I have decided and will not turn back.(CD)”
29 At the sound of horsemen and archers(CE)
every town takes to flight.(CF)
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.(CG)
All the towns are deserted;(CH)
no one lives in them.
Jeremiah 4
Good News Translation
Jeremiah 4
Good News Translation
A Call to Repentance
4 The Lord says, “People of Israel, if you want to turn, then turn back to me. If you are faithful to me and remove the idols I hate, 2 it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then[a] all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me.”
3 (A)The Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “Plow up your unplowed fields; do not plant your seeds among thorns. 4 Keep your covenant with me, your Lord, and dedicate yourselves to me, you people of Judah and Jerusalem. If you don't, my anger will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. It will burn, and there will be no one to put it out.”
Judah Is Threatened with Invasion
5 Blow the trumpet throughout the land!
Shout loud and clear!
Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem
to run to the fortified cities.
6 Point the way to Zion!
Run for safety! Don't delay!
The Lord is bringing disaster
and great destruction from the north.
7 Like a lion coming from its hiding place,
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He is coming to destroy Judah.
The cities of Judah will be left in ruins,
and no one will live in them.
8 So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail
because the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from Judah.
9 The Lord said, “On that day kings and officials will lose their courage; priests will be shocked and prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you have completely deceived the people of Jerusalem! You have said there would be peace, but a sword is at their throats.”
11 The time is coming when the people of Jerusalem will be told that a scorching wind is blowing in from the desert toward them. It will not be a gentle wind that only blows away the chaff— 12 the wind that comes at the Lord's command will be much stronger than that! It is the Lord himself who is pronouncing judgment on his people.
Judah Is Surrounded by Enemies
13 Look, the enemy is coming like clouds. Their war chariots are like a whirlwind, and their horses are faster than eagles. We are lost! We are doomed!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts?
15 Messengers from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim announce the bad news. 16 They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah 17 and will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field, because her people have rebelled against the Lord. The Lord has spoken.
18 Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.
Jeremiah's Sorrow for His People
19 The pain! I can't bear the pain!
My heart! My heart is beating wildly!
I can't keep quiet;
I hear the trumpets
and the shouts of battle.
20 One disaster follows another;
the whole country is left in ruins.
Suddenly our tents are destroyed;
their curtains are torn to pieces.
21 How long must I see the battle raging
and hear the blasts of trumpets?
22 The Lord says, “My people are stupid;
they don't know me.
They are like foolish children;
they have no understanding.
They are experts at doing what is evil,
but failures at doing what is good.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Destruction
23 I looked at the earth—it was a barren waste;
at the sky—there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains—they were shaking,
and the hills were rocking back and forth.
25 I saw that there were no people;
even the birds had flown away.
26 The fertile land had become a desert;
its cities were in ruins
because of the Lord's fierce anger.
(27 The Lord has said that the whole earth will become a wasteland, but that he will not completely destroy it.)
28 The earth will mourn;
the sky will grow dark.
The Lord has spoken
and will not change his mind.
He has made his decision
and will not turn back.
29 At the noise of the cavalry and archers
everyone will run away.
Some will run to the forest;
others will climb up among the rocks.
Every town will be left empty,
and no one will live in them again.
30 Jerusalem, you are doomed!
Why do you dress in scarlet?
Why do you put on jewelry and paint your eyes?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing!
Your lovers have rejected you
and want to kill you.
31 I heard a cry, like a woman in labor,
a scream like a woman bearing her first child.
It was the cry of Jerusalem gasping for breath,
stretching out her hand and saying,
“I am doomed!
They are coming to kill me!”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:2 it will be right … name. Then; or and if you swear by my name and are truthful, just, and righteous, then.
Jeremiah 4
English Standard Version
Jeremiah 4
English Standard Version
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.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
(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.”
Disaster from the North
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
(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.”
9 “In that day, declares the Lord, (T)courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, (U)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 (V)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 (W)speak in judgment upon them.”
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.”
Anguish over Judah's Desolation
19 (AG)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 (AH)Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
(AI)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 (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.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; (AR)yet I will not make a full end.
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.”
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Good News Translation (GNT) 
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.