Jeremiah 4:3-31 - The Lord Will Bring Destruction On Judah From The North
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
do not sow among the thorns.
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it
because of your evil deeds.
5 Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Cry out loudly and say:
Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north—
a great destruction.
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.
mourn and wail,
for the Lord’s burning anger
has not turned away from us.
9 “On that day”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
10 I said, “Oh no, Lord God, You have certainly deceived
11 “At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind
13
his chariots are like a storm.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts within you?
proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against Me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
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Oh, the pain in
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22
they do not know Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”
23
and it was formless and empty.
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.
and they were quaking;
all the hills shook.
all the birds of the sky had fled.
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and His burning anger.
27 For this is what the Lord says:
but I will not finish it off.
the skies above will grow dark.
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.
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at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;
they want to take your life.
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:
Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!