Jeremiah 4 (NET)

Jeremiah 4:1¹“If you, Israel, want to come back,” says the Lord, “if you want to come back to me, you must get those disgusting idols out of my sight and must no longer go astray.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:2²You must be truthful, honest, and upright when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ If you do, the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are and will make him the object of their boasting.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:3³Yes, this is what the Lord has said to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, do not cast seeds among thorns.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:4⁴Commit yourselves to the Lord; dedicate your hearts to me people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you that no one will be able to extinguish. That will happen because of the evil you have done.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:5⁵The Lord said, “Announce this in Judah and proclaim it in Jerusalem: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Shout out loudly, ‘Gather together! Let us flee into the fortified cities!’Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:6⁶Raise a signal flag that tells people to go to Zion. Run for safety! Do not delay! For I am about to bring disaster out of the north. It will bring great destruction.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:7⁷Like a lion that has come up from its lair the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:8⁸So put on sackcloth! Mourn and wail, saying, ‘The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us!’Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:9⁹When this happens,” says the Lord, “the king and his officials will lose their courage. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be speechless in astonishment.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:10¹⁰In response to all this I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have surely allowed the people of Judah and Jerusalem to be deceived by those who say, ‘You will be safe!’ But in fact a sword is already at our throats.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:11¹¹At that time the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind will sweep down from the hilltops in the wilderness on my dear people. It will not be a gentle breeze for winnowing the grain and blowing away the chaff.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:12¹²No, a wind too strong for that will come at my bidding. Yes, even now I, myself, am calling down judgment on them.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:13¹³Look! The enemy is approaching like gathering clouds. The roar of his chariots is like that of a whirlwind. His horses move more swiftly than eagles.” I cry out, “We are doomed, for we will be destroyed!”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:14¹⁴O people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil so that you may yet be delivered. How long will you continue to harbor up wicked schemes within you?Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:15¹⁵For messengers are coming, heralding disaster, from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:16¹⁶They are saying, “Announce to the surrounding nations, ‘The enemy is coming!’ Proclaim this message to Jerusalem: ‘Those who besiege cities are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against the towns in Judah.’Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:17¹⁷They will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field because they have rebelled against me,” says the Lord.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:18¹⁸“The way you have lived and the things you have done will bring this on you. This is the punishment you deserve, and it will be painful indeed. The pain will be so bad it will pierce your heart.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:19¹⁹I said, “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul!Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:20²⁰I see one destruction after another taking place, so that the whole land lies in ruins. I see our tents suddenly destroyed, their curtains torn down in a mere instant.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:21²¹How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags and hear the military signals of their bugles?”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:22²²The Lord answered, “This will happen because my people are foolish. They do not know me. They are like children who have no sense. They have no understanding. They are skilled at doing evil. They do not know how to do good.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:23²³I looked at the land and saw that it was an empty wasteland. I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:24²⁴I looked at the mountains and saw that they were shaking. All the hills were swaying back and forth!Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:25²⁵I looked and saw that there were no more people and that all the birds in the sky had flown away.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:26²⁶I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert and that all the cities had been laid in ruins. The Lord had brought this all about because of his blazing anger.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:27²⁷All this will happen because the Lord said, “The whole land will be desolate; however, I will not completely destroy it.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:28²⁸Because of this the land will mourn and the sky above will grow black. For I have made my purpose known, and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:29²⁹At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee. Some of them will hide in the thickets. Others will climb up among the rocks. All the cities will be deserted. No one will remain in them.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:30³⁰And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, you accomplish nothing by wearing a beautiful dress, decking yourself out in jewels of gold, and putting on eye shadow! You are making yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers spurn you. They want to kill you.Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions

Jeremiah 4:31³¹In fact, I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, reaching out for help, saying, “I am done in! My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”Copy LinkCopy VerseKJV+Strong’sMany Bible Versions