A Plea to Return

1“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,

2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”

3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts,
O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it,
because of your evil deeds.”

Disaster from the North

5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
“Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’

6Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.

7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.

8So put on sackcloth, mourn 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 officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be astounded.”

10Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;

12a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”

13Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!

14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

15For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

16Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

17They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

18“Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”

Lamentation for Judah

19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.

20Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.

21How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

22“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”

23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.

24I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.

26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. All its cities were torn down before the LORD, before His fierce anger.

27For this is what the LORD says:
“The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.

28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”

29Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.

30And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.

31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”