Jeremiah 4

4"If you want to come back, O Israel, you must really come back to me. You must get rid of your stinking sin paraphernalia and not wander away from me anymore.H7725H3478H5002H3068H7725H5493H8251H6440H51102Then you can say words like, 'As GOD lives . . . ' and have them mean something true and just and right. And the godless nations will get caught up in the blessing and find something in Israel to write home about."H7650H3068H2416H571H4941H6666H1471H1288H19843Here's another Message from GOD to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: "Plow your unplowed fields, but then don't plant weeds in the soil!H559H3068H376H3063H3389H5214H5215H2232H69754Yes, circumcise your lives for God's sake. Plow your unplowed hearts, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem. Prevent fire—the fire of my anger— for once it starts it can't be put out. Your wicked ways are fuel for the fire.H4135H3068H5493H6190H3824H376H3063H3427H3389H2534H3318H784H1197H3518H6440H7455H4611

God’s Sledgehammer Anger

5"Sound the alarm in Judah, broadcast the news in Jerusalem. Say, 'Blow the ram's horn trumpet through the land!' Shout out—a bullhorn bellow!— 'Close ranks! Run for your lives to the shelters!'H5046H3063H8085H3389H559H8628H7782H776H7121H4390H559H622H935H4013H58926Send up a flare warning Zion: 'Not a minute to lose! Don't sit on your hands!' Disaster's descending from the north. I set it off! When it lands, it will shake the foundations.H5375H5251H6726H5756H5975H935H7451H6828H1419H76677Invaders have pounced like a lion from its cover, ready to rip nations to shreds, Leaving your land in wrack and ruin, your cities in rubble, abandoned.H738H5927H5441H7843H1471H5265H3318H4725H7760H776H8047H5892H5327H34278Dress in funereal black. Weep and wail, For GOD's sledgehammer anger has slammed into us head-on.H2296H8242H5594H3213H2740H639H3068H77259"When this happens" —GOD's Decree— "King and princes will lose heart; priests will be baffled and prophets stand dumbfounded."H3117H5002H3068H3820H4428H6H3820H8269H3548H8074H5030H853910Then I said, "Alas, Master GOD! You've fed lies to this people, this Jerusalem. You assured them, 'All is well, don't worry,' at the very moment when the sword was at their throats."H559H162H136H3069H403H5377H5377H5971H3389H559H7965H2719H5060H531511At that time, this people, yes, this very Jerusalem, will be told in plain words: "The northern hordes are sweeping in from the desert steppes— A wind that's up to no good,H6256H559H5971H3389H6703H7307H8205H4057H1870H1323H5971H2219H130512a gale-force wind. I ordered this wind. I'm pronouncing my hurricane judgment on my people."H4392H7307H935H1696H4941

Your Evil Life Is Piercing Your Heart

13Look at them! Like banks of storm clouds, racing, tumbling, their chariots a tornado, Their horses faster than eagles! Woe to us! We're done for!H5927H6051H4818H5492H5483H7043H5404H188H770314Jerusalem! Scrub the evil from your lives so you'll be fit for salvation. How much longer will you harbor devious and malignant designs within you?H3389H3526H3820H7451H3467H205H4284H3885H713015What's this? A messenger from Dan? Bad news from Ephraim's hills!H6963H5046H1835H8085H205H2022H66916Make the report public. Broadcast the news to Jerusalem: "Invaders from far off are raising war cries against Judah's towns.H2142H1471H8085H3389H5341H935H4801H776H5414H6963H5892H306317They're all over her, like a dog on a bone. And why? Because she rebelled against me." GOD's Decree.H8104H7704H5439H4784H5002H306818"It's the way you've lived that's brought all this on you. The bitter taste is from your evil life. That's what's piercing your heart."H1870H4611H6213H7451H4751H5060H382019I'm doubled up with cramps in my belly— a poker burns in my gut. My insides are tearing me up, never a moment's peace. The ram's horn trumpet blast rings in my ears, the signal for all-out war.H4578H4578H2342H3176H7023H3820H3820H1993H2790H8085H5315H6963H7782H8643H442120Disaster hard on the heels of disaster, the whole country in ruins! In one stroke my home is destroyed, the walls flattened in the blink of an eye.H7667H7667H7121H776H7703H6597H168H7703H3407H728121How long do I have to look at the warning flares, listen to the siren of danger?H7200H5251H8085H6963H7782

Experts at Evil

22"What fools my people are! They have no idea who I am. A company of half-wits, dopes and donkeys all! Experts at evil but klutzes at good."H5971H191H3045H5530H1121H995H2450H7489H3190H304523I looked at the earth— it was back to pre-Genesis chaos and emptiness. I looked at the skies, and not a star to be seen.H7200H776H8414H922H8064H21624I looked at the mountains— they were trembling like aspen leaves, And all the hills rocking back and forth in the wind.H7200H2022H7493H1389H704325I looked—what's this! Not a man or woman in sight, and not a bird to be seen in the skies.H7200H120H5775H8064H507426I looked—this can't be! Every garden and orchard shriveled up. All the towns were ghost towns. And all this because of GOD, because of the blazing anger of GOD.H7200H3759H4057H5892H5422H6440H3068H2740H63927Yes, this is GOD's Word on the matter: "The whole country will be laid waste— still it won't be the end of the world.H3068H559H776H8077H6213H361728The earth will mourn and the skies lament Because I've given my word and won't take it back. I've decided and won't change my mind."H776H56H8064H4605H6937H1696H2161H5162H7725

You’re Not Going to Seduce Anyone

29Someone shouts, "Horsemen and archers!" and everybody runs for cover. They hide in ditches, they climb into caves. The cities are emptied, not a person left anywhere.H5892H1272H6963H6571H7198H7411H935H5645H5927H3710H5892H5800H376H3427H200430And you, what do you think you're up to? Dressing up in party clothes, Decking yourselves out in jewelry, putting on lipstick and rouge and mascara! Your primping goes for nothing. You're not going to seduce anyone. They're out to kill you!H7703H6213H3847H8144H5710H5716H2091H7167H5869H6320H7723H3302H5689H3988H1245H531531And what's that I hear? The cry of a woman in labor, the screams of a mother giving birth to her firstborn. It's the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath, reaching out for help: "Help, oh help me! I'm dying! The killers are on me!"H8085H6963H2470H6869H1069H6963H1323H6726H3306H6566H3709H188H5315H5888H2026