Jeremiah 4

¹ 'If you come back, Israel, Yahweh declares, if you come back to me, if you take your Horrors out of mysight, if you go roving no more,

² if you swear, "As Yahweh lives!" truthful y, justly, uprightly, then the nations wil bless themselves by him and glory in him.

³ 'For Yahweh says this to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Clear the ground that lies neglected, do notsow among thorns.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves for Yahweh, apply circumcision to your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants ofJerusalem, or my wrath wil leap out like a fire and burn with no one to quench it, in return for the wickedness ofyour deeds." '

⁵ Announce it in Judah, proclaim it in Jerusalem, say, 'Sound the trumpet in the countryside, shout themessage aloud: Mobilise! Take to the fortified towns!

⁶ Signpost the way to Zion! Run! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, an immensecalamity.

⁷ The lion is up from his thicket, the destroyer of nations is on his way, he has come from his home toreduce your land to a desert; your towns wil be in ruins, uninhabited.

⁸ So wrap yourselves in sackcloth, lament and wail, since Yahweh's burning anger has not turned awayfrom us.

⁹ 'That day,' Yahweh declares, 'the king's heart will fail him, the princes' hearts wil fail them too, thepriests wil stand aghast, the prophets stupefied.'

¹⁰ Then I said, 'Ah, Lord Yahweh, how sadly you deceived this people and Jerusalem when you used tosay, "You wil have peace," whereas the sword is now at our throats!

¹¹ When that time comes, this wil be said to this people and to Jerusalem: The scorching wind from thedesert heights comes towards the daughter of my people -and not to winnow or to cleanse!

¹² A gale of wind comes to me from over there. Now I myself shal pass sentence on them!'

¹³ Look, he is advancing like the clouds, his chariots like a hurricane, his horses swifter than eagles.Disaster for us! We are lost!

¹⁴ Wash your heart clean of wickedness, Jerusalem, and so be saved. How long wil you go onharbouring your pernicious thoughts?

¹⁵ For a voice from Dan shouts the news, proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.

¹⁶ Report it to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem, 'Enemies are coming from a distant country, shoutingtheir war cry against the towns of Judah;

¹⁷ they surround her like watchmen round a field because she has rebel ed against me', Yahwehdeclares.

¹⁸ 'Your own behaviour and actions have brought this on yourself. Your wickedness, how bitter, hasstabbed you to the heart!'

¹⁹ In the pit of my stomach how great my agony! Walls of my heart! My heart is throbbing! I cannot keepquiet, for I have heard the trumpet call, the battle cry.

²⁰ Ruin on ruin is the news: the whole land is laid waste, my tents are suddenly destroyed, in one momental that sheltered me.

²¹ How long must I see the standard and hear the trumpet cal ?

²² 'This is because my people are stupid, they do not know me, they are slow-witted children, they haveno understanding, they are clever enough at doing wrong, but do not know how to do right.'

²³ I looked to the earth -- it was a formless waste; to the heavens, and their light had gone.

²⁴ I looked to the mountains -- they were quaking and al the hil s rocking to and fro.

²⁵ I looked -- there was no one at all, the very birds of heaven had al fled.

²⁶ I looked -- the fruitful land was a desert, all its towns in ruins before Yahweh, before his burning anger.

²⁷ Yes, Yahweh has said this, 'The whole country wil be laid waste, though I shall not annihilate itcompletely.

²⁸ For this, the earth wil go into mourning and the heavens above grow dark. For I have spoken, I havedecided, I shal not change my mind or go back on it.'

²⁹ At the din of horseman and archer the entire city takes to flight: some plunge into the thickets, othersscale the rocks; every town is abandoned, not a single person is left there.

³⁰ And, once despoiled, what are you going to do? You may dress yourself in scarlet, put on ornaments ofgold, enlarge your eyes with paint but you make yourself pretty in vain. Your former lovers disdain you, your lifeis what they are seeking.

³¹ Yes, I hear screams like those of a woman in labour, anguish like that of a woman giving birth to herfirst child; they are the screams of the daughter of Zion, gasping, hands outstretched, 'Unhappy me! I am dying,the murderers have kil ed me!'