JEREMIAH 4 [†] “If you return, O Israel,

declares the LORD,

 x to me you should return.

If you remove your detestable things from my presence,

 y and do not waver,

2[†]  z and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then  a nations shall bless themselves in him,

 b and in him shall they glory.”

3[†]For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

 c “Break up your fallow ground,

and  d sow not among thorns.

4[^][†]  e Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

 f lest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

 g because of the evil of your deeds.”

5[†]Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

 h “Blow the trumpet through the land;

cry aloud and say,

 i ‘Assemble, and let us go

into the fortified cities!’

6  j Raise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from  k the north,

 l and great destruction.

7[†]  m 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

 n without inhabitant.

8[†] For this  o put on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for  p the fierce anger of the LORD

has not turned back from us.”

9[†]“In that day, declares the LORD,  q courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10[†]Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD,  r 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  s the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who  t speak in judgment upon them.”

13[†] Behold, he comes up like clouds;

 u his chariots like the whirlwind;

his horses are  v swifter than eagles—

woe to us,  w for we are ruined!

14 O Jerusalem,  x wash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall your wicked thoughts

lodge within you?

15[†] For a voice  y declares from Dan

and proclaims trouble from  z Mount Ephraim.

16 Warn the nations that he is coming;

announce to Jerusalem,

“Besiegers come  a from a distant land;

they shout against the cities of Judah.

17 Like keepers of a field  b 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  c it is bitter;

it has reached your very heart.”

19[†]  d 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  e Crash follows hard on crash;

the whole land is laid waste.

 f 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  g my people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

 h They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”

23[†] I looked on the earth, and behold, it was  i without form and void;

 j and to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked on  k the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro.

25  l I looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled.

26[†] I looked, and behold, the  m fruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the LORD, before  n his fierce anger.

27[†]For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation;  o yet I will not make a full end.

28[†]  p “For this the earth shall mourn,

 q and the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

 r 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  s no man dwells in them.

30[†] And you, O desolate one,

what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,

 t that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

 u that you enlarge your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself.

 v Your lovers despise you;

they seek your life.

31[†] For I heard  w 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,

 x stretching out her hands,

“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”