1 "If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD .
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray, |
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him
and in him they will glory." |
3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: |
4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD ,
circumcise your hearts,
you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will break out and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done-
burn with no one to quench it. |
5 "Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:
'Sound the trumpet throughout the land!'
Cry aloud and say:
'Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!' |
6 Raise the signal to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
even terrible destruction." |
7 A lion has come out of his lair;
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins
without inhabitant. |
8 So put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us. |
9 "In that day," declares the LORD ,
"the king and the officials will lose heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled." |
10 Then I said, "Ah, Sovereign LORD , how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'You will have peace,' when the sword is at our throats." |
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, "A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; |
12 a wind too strong for that comes from me.1 4:12 Or comes at my command Now I pronounce my judgments against them." |
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined! |
14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts? |
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim. |
16 "Tell this to the nations,
proclaim it to Jerusalem:
'A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah. |
17 They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,' "
declares the LORD . |
18 "Your own conduct and actions
have brought this upon you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!" |
19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry. |
20 Disaster follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment. |
21 How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet? |
22 "My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good." |
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone. |
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying. |
25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away. |
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the LORD , before his fierce anger. |
27 This is what the LORD says: |
28 Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back." |
29 At the sound of horsemen and archers
every town takes to flight.
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.
All the towns are deserted;
no one lives in them. |
30 What are you doing, O devastated one?
Why dress yourself in scarlet
and put on jewels of gold?
Why shade your eyes with paint?
You adorn yourself in vain.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life. |
31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,
a groan as of one bearing her first child-
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands and saying,
"Alas! I am fainting;
my life is given over to murderers." |
