4"If you, Israel, will return, then return to me," declares the LORD. "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,H7725H3478H5002H3068H7725H5493H8251H6440H51102and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will invoke blessings by him and in him they will boast."H7650H3068H2416H571H4941H6666H1471H1288H19843This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem: "Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.H559H3068H376H3063H3389H5214H5215H2232H69754Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—burn with no one to quench it.H4135H3068H5493H6190H3824H376H3063H3427H3389H2534H3318H784H1197H3518H6440H7455H46115"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!'H5046H3063H8085H3389H559H8628H7782H776H7121H4390H559H622H935H4013H58926Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction."H5375H5251H6726H5756H5975H935H7451H6828H1419H76677A 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.H738H5927H5441H7843H1471H5265H3318H4725H7760H776H8047H5892H5327H34278So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.H2296H8242H5594H3213H2740H639H3068H77259"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."H3117H5002H3068H3820H4428H6H3820H8269H3548H8074H5030H853910Then 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."H559H162H136H3069H403H5377H5377H5971H3389H559H7965H2719H5060H531511At 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;H6256H559H5971H3389H6703H7307H8205H4057H1870H1323H5971H2219H130512a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them."H4392H7307H935H1696H494113Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!H5927H6051H4818H5492H5483H7043H5404H188H770314Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?H3389H3526H3820H7451H3467H205H4284H3885H713015A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.H6963H5046H1835H8085H205H2022H66916"Tell this to the nations, proclaim concerning Jerusalem: 'A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.H2142H1471H8085H3389H5341H935H4801H776H5414H6963H5892H306317They surround her like people guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,' " declares the LORD.H8104H7704H5439H4784H5002H306818"Your own conduct and actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!"H1870H4611H6213H7451H4751H5060H382019Oh, 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.H4578H4578H2342H3176H7023H3820H3820H1993H2790H8085H5315H6963H7782H8643H442120Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.H7667H7667H7121H776H7703H6597H168H7703H3407H728121How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?H7200H5251H8085H6963H778222"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."H5971H191H3045H5530H1121H995H2450H7489H3190H304523I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.H7200H776H8414H922H8064H21624I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.H7200H2022H7493H1389H704325I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.H7200H120H5775H8064H507426I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.H7200H3759H4057H5892H5422H6440H3068H2740H63927This is what the LORD says: "The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.H3068H559H776H8077H6213H361728Therefore 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."H776H56H8064H4605H6937H1696H2161H5162H772529At 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.H5892H1272H6963H6571H7198H7411H935H5645H5927H3710H5892H5800H376H3427H200430What are you doing, you devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why color your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.H7703H6213H3847H8144H5710H5716H2091H7167H5869H6320H7723H3302H5689H3988H1245H531531I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child—the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, "Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers."H8085H6963H2470H6869H1069H6963H1323H6726H3306H6566H3709H188H5315H5888H2026