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Jeremiah 4

Judah Threatened with Invasion

1

"If you will  areturn, O Israel," declares the LORD, "Then you should return to Me. And  bif you will put away your detested things from My presence, And will not waver,

2

And you will  aswear, `As the LORD lives,'  bIn truth, in justice and in righteousness; Then the  cnations will bless themselves in Him, And  din Him they will glory."

3

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, " 1 aBreak up your fallow ground, And  bdo not sow among thorns.

4

aCircumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My  bwrath will go forth like fire And burn with  cnone to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds."

5

Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say, " aBlow the trumpet in the land; Cry aloud and say, ` bAssemble yourselves, and let us go Into the fortified cities.'

6

"Lift up a  astandard toward Zion! Seek refuge, do not stand still, For I am bringing  bevil from the north, And great destruction.

7

"A  alion has gone up from his thicket, And a  bdestroyer of nations has set out; He has gone out from his place To  cmake your land a waste. Your cities will be ruins Without inhabitant.

8

"For this,  aput on sackcloth, Lament and wail; For the  bfierce anger of the LORD Has not turned back from us."

9

"It shall come about in that day," declares the LORD, "that the  aheart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled and the  bprophets will be astounded."

10

Then I said, "Ah, Lord  1GOD! Surely You have utterly  adeceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ` bYou will have peace'; whereas a sword touches the  2throat."

11

In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A  ascorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness in the direction of the daughter of My people--not to winnow and not to cleanse,

12

a wind too strong for  1this--will come  2at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them.

13

"Behold, he  agoes up like clouds, And his  bchariots like the whirlwind; His horses are  cswifter than eagles. Woe to us, for  dwe are ruined!"

14

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your  awicked thoughts Lodge within you?

15

For a voice declares from  aDan, And proclaims wickedness from Mount Ephraim.

16

"Report it to the nations, now! Proclaim over Jerusalem, `Besiegers come from a  afar country, And  blift their voices against the cities of Judah.

17

`Like watchmen of a field they are  aagainst her round about, Because she has  brebelled against Me,' declares the LORD.

18

"Your  aways and your deeds Have  1brought these things to you. This is your evil. How  bbitter! How it has touched your heart!"

Lament over Judah's Devastation

19

 aMy  1soul, my  1soul! I am in anguish!  2Oh, my heart! My  bheart is pounding in me; I cannot be silent, Because  3you have heard, O my soul, The  csound of the trumpet, The alarm of war.

20

 aDisaster on disaster is proclaimed, For the  bwhole land is devastated; Suddenly my  ctents are devastated, My curtains in an instant.

21

How long must I see the standard And hear the sound of the trumpet?

22

aFor My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to  bdo evil, But to do good they do not know."

23

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was  1 a formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.

24

I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were  aquaking, And all the hills  1moved to and fro.

25

I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the  abirds of the heavens had fled.

26

I looked, and behold,  1the  afruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the LORD, before His fierce anger.

27

For thus says the LORD, "The  awhole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will  bnot execute a complete destruction.

28

"For this the  aearth shall mourn And the  bheavens above be dark, Because I have  cspoken, I have purposed, And I will not  1change My mind, nor will I turn from it."

29

At the sound of the horseman and bowman  aevery city flees; They  bgo into the thickets and climb among the rocks;  cEvery city is forsaken, And no man dwells in them.

30

And you, O desolate one,  awhat will you do? Although you dress in scarlet, Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold, Although you  benlarge your eyes with paint, In vain you make yourself beautiful. Your  1 clovers despise you; They seek your life.

31

For I heard a  1cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The  1cry of the daughter of Zion  agasping for breath,  bStretching out her  2hands, saying, "Ah, woe is me, for  3I faint before murderers."



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(Produced: Sat Dec 22 11:23:43 2007)

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