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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.

30 What are you doing,(CI) you devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewels(CJ) of gold?
Why highlight your eyes with makeup?(CK)
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers(CL) despise you;
they want to kill you.(CM)

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

#### Cross references

1. Jeremiah 4:1 : S Dt 4:30; S 2Ki 17:13; S Hos 12:6
2. Jeremiah 4:1 : S 2Ki 21:4; Jer 16:18; 35:15; Eze 8:5
3. Jeremiah 4:2 : Dt 10:20; S Isa 19:18; 65:16
4. Jeremiah 4:2 : S Nu 14:21; Jer 5:2; 12:16; 44:26; Hos 4:15
5. Jeremiah 4:2 : S Ge 12:2; Gal 3:8
6. Jeremiah 4:2 : Jer 9:24
7. Jeremiah 4:3 : Hos 10:12
8. Jeremiah 4:3 : Mk 4:18
9. Jeremiah 4:4 : S Lev 26:41
10. Jeremiah 4:4 : Zep 1:18; 2:2
11. Jeremiah 4:4 : S Job 41:21
12. Jeremiah 4:4 : S Ex 32:22
13. Jeremiah 4:4 : Isa 1:31; Am 5:6
14. Jeremiah 4:5 : Jer 5:20; 11:2, 6
15. Jeremiah 4:5 : S ver 21; S Nu 10:2, 7; S Job 39:24
16. Jeremiah 4:5 : S Jos 10:20
17. Jeremiah 4:6 : ver 21; Ps 74:4; S Isa 11:10; 31:9; Jer 50:2
18. Jeremiah 4:6 : Jer 11:11; 18:11
19. Jeremiah 4:6 : S Isa 14:31; Jer 50:3
20. Jeremiah 4:7 : S 2Ki 24:1; S Jer 2:15
21. Jeremiah 4:7 : Jer 25:38; Hos 5:14; 13:7; Na 2:12
22. Jeremiah 4:7 : Jer 6:26; 15:8; 22:7; 48:8; 51:1, 53; Eze 21:31; 25:7
23. Jeremiah 4:7 : S Isa 1:7; Eze 12:20
24. Jeremiah 4:7 : ver 29; S Lev 26:31; S Isa 6:11
25. Jeremiah 4:8 : 1Ki 21:27; S Isa 3:24; Jer 6:26; Eze 7:18; Joel 1:8
26. Jeremiah 4:8 : Jer 7:29; 9:20; Am 5:1
27. Jeremiah 4:8 : S Isa 10:4; S Jer 30:24
28. Jeremiah 4:9 : S 1Sa 17:32
29. Jeremiah 4:9 : S Isa 29:9
30. Jeremiah 4:10 : S Ex 5:23; 2Th 2:11
31. Jeremiah 4:10 : Isa 30:10; Jer 6:14; 8:11; 14:13; 23:17; Eze 13:10; Mic 3:5; 1Th 5:3
32. Jeremiah 4:11 : S Ge 41:6; S Lev 26:33; S Job 1:19
33. Jeremiah 4:12 : S Isa 64:6
34. Jeremiah 4:12 : Jer 1:16
35. Jeremiah 4:13 : S 2Sa 22:10; Isa 19:1
36. Jeremiah 4:13 : Isa 66:15; Eze 26:10; Na 2:4
37. Jeremiah 4:13 : S 2Ki 2:1
38. Jeremiah 4:13 : Hab 3:8
39. Jeremiah 4:13 : S Dt 28:49; Hab 1:8
40. Jeremiah 4:13 : ver 20, 27; Isa 6:11; 24:3; Jer 7:34; 9:11, 19; 12:11; 25:11; 44:6; Mic 2:4
41. Jeremiah 4:14 : S Ru 3:3; S Ps 51:2; Jas 4:8
42. Jeremiah 4:14 : Isa 45:22
43. Jeremiah 4:14 : S Ps 6:3
44. Jeremiah 4:15 : S Ge 30:6
45. Jeremiah 4:15 : Jer 31:6
46. Jeremiah 4:16 : S Dt 28:49
47. Jeremiah 4:16 : ver 19; Eze 21:22
48. Jeremiah 4:16 : S Jer 1:15
49. Jeremiah 4:17 : S 2Ki 25:1, 4
50. Jeremiah 4:17 : S 1Sa 12:15; Jer 5:23
51. Jeremiah 4:18 : Ps 107:17; S Isa 1:28; Jer 5:25
52. Jeremiah 4:18 : Jer 2:17
53. Jeremiah 4:18 : Jer 2:19
54. Jeremiah 4:19 : Isa 22:4; Jer 6:24; 9:10; La 1:20
55. Jeremiah 4:19 : S Job 6:10; S 14:22; Jer 10:19
56. Jeremiah 4:19 : S Job 37:1; Jer 23:9
57. Jeremiah 4:19 : S Job 4:2; Jer 20:9
58. Jeremiah 4:19 : S ver 21; S Nu 10:2; S Job 39:24
59. Jeremiah 4:19 : S ver 16; Nu 10:9; Jer 49:2; Zep 1:16
60. Jeremiah 4:20 : S Dt 31:17
61. Jeremiah 4:20 : S ver 13
62. Jeremiah 4:20 : S Nu 24:5; Jer 10:20; La 2:4
63. Jeremiah 4:21 : S ver 6; S Nu 2:2; S Isa 18:3
64. Jeremiah 4:21 : ver 5, 19; S Jos 6:20; Jer 6:1; Hos 5:8; Am 3:6; Zep 1:16
65. Jeremiah 4:22 : Jer 5:21; 10:8
66. Jeremiah 4:22 : S Isa 1:3; 27:11; Jer 2:8; 8:7; Hos 5:4; 6:6
67. Jeremiah 4:22 : S Ps 14:4; S 53:2
68. Jeremiah 4:22 : Jer 13:23; S 1Co 14:20
69. Jeremiah 4:22 : S Ps 36:3
70. Jeremiah 4:23 : S Ge 1:2
71. Jeremiah 4:23 : ver 28; S Job 9:7; 30:26; S Isa 5:30; 59:9; La 3:2
72. Jeremiah 4:24 : S Ex 19:18; S Job 9:6
73. Jeremiah 4:25 : Jer 7:20; 9:10; 12:4; Hos 4:3; Zep 1:3
74. Jeremiah 4:26 : S Ge 13:10; Jer 12:4; 23:10
75. Jeremiah 4:26 : S Isa 6:11
76. Jeremiah 4:26 : Jer 12:13; 25:38
77. Jeremiah 4:27 : S ver 13
78. Jeremiah 4:27 : S Lev 26:44; Jer 5:10, 18; 12:12; 30:11; 46:28; Eze 20:17; Am 9:8
79. Jeremiah 4:28 : Jer 12:4, 11; 14:2; Hos 4:3
80. Jeremiah 4:28 : S ver 23
81. Jeremiah 4:28 : S Nu 23:19
82. Jeremiah 4:28 : ver 8; Jer 23:20; 30:24
83. Jeremiah 4:29 : S ver 13; Jer 6:23; 8:16
84. Jeremiah 4:29 : 2Ki 25:4
85. Jeremiah 4:29 : S Ex 33:22; S 1Sa 26:20
86. Jeremiah 4:29 : S ver 7; S Isa 6:12
87. Jeremiah 4:30 : Isa 10:3-4
88. Jeremiah 4:30 : Eze 16:11; 23:40
89. Jeremiah 4:30 : S 2Ki 9:30
90. Jeremiah 4:30 : Job 19:14; La 1:2; Eze 23:9, 22
91. Jeremiah 4:30 : S Ps 35:4
92. Jeremiah 4:31 : S Ge 3:16; Jer 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; Mic 4:10
93. Jeremiah 4:31 : S Ps 9:14
94. Jeremiah 4:31 : Isa 42:14
95. Jeremiah 4:31 : Isa 1:15; La 1:17
96. Jeremiah 4:31 : S Dt 32:25; La 2:21

New International Version (NIV)

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