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The Blue Letter Bible

Jeremiah 4 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:1 - “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
and do not waver,
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:2 - and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:3 - For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:4 - Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:5 - Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:6 - Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the north,
and great destruction.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:7 - 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
without inhabitant.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:8 - For this put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned back from us.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:9 - “In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:10 - Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:11 - At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse,
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:12 - a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:13 - Behold, he comes up like clouds;
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:14 - O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:15 - For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:16 - Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:17 - Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
because she has rebelled against me,
declares the LORD.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:18 - Your ways and your deeds
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”

Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:19 - 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.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:20 - Crash follows hard on crash;
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
my curtains in a moment.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:21 - How long must I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:22 - “For my people are foolish;
they know me not;
they are stupid children;
they have no understanding.
They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
But how to do good they know not.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:23 - I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:24 - I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:25 - I looked, and behold, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:26 - I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:27 - For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:28 - “For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:29 - 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 no man dwells in them.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:30 - And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
Unchecked Copy BoxJer 4:31 - For I heard 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,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Jeremiah Chapter 4 — Additional Translations: