Jeremiah 4-6; Psalms 14

4“O Israel,” says the Lord, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.H7725H3478H5002H3068H7725H5493H8251H6440H5110

2Then when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name.”H7650H3068H2416H571H4941H6666H1471H1288H1984

Coming Judgment against Judah

3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns.H559H3068H376H3063H3389H5214H5215H2232H6975

4O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord

, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.H4135H3068H5493H6190H3824H376H3063H3427H3389H2534H3318H784H1197H3518H6440H7455H4611

5“Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem! Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land: ‘Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!’H5046H3063H8085H3389H559H8628H7782H776H7121H4390H559H622H935H4013H5892

6Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem

: ‘Flee now! Do not delay!’ For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north.”H5375H5251H6726H5756H5975H935H7451H6828H1419H7667

7A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. It has left its lair and is headed your way. It’s going to devastate your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, with no one living in them anymore.H738H5927H5441H7843H1471H5265H3318H4725H7760H776H8047H5892H5327H3427

8So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord is still upon us.H2296H8242H5594H3213H2740H639H3068H7725

9“In that day,” says the Lord, “the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be appalled.”H3117H5002H3068H3820H4428H6H3820H8269H3548H8074H5030H8539

10Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!”H559H162H136H3069H403H5377H5377H5971H3389H559H7965H2719H5060H5315

11The time is coming when the Lord will say to the people of Jerusalem, “My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert, and it’s not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain.H6256H559H5971H3389H6703H7307H8205H4057H1870H1323H5971H2219H1305

12It is a roaring blast sent by me! Now I will pronounce your destruction!”H4392H7307H935H1696H4941

13Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds! His chariots are like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles. How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!H5927H6051H4818H5492H5483H7043H5404H188H7703

14O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts?H3389H3526H3820H7451H3467H205H4284H3885H7130

15Your destruction has been announced from Dan and the hill country of Ephraim.H6963H5046H1835H8085H205H2022H669

16“Warn the surrounding nations and announce this to Jerusalem: The enemy is coming from a distant land, raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah.H2142H1471H8085H3389H5341H935H4801H776H5414H6963H5892H3063

17They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field, for my people have rebelled against me,” says the Lord.H8104H7704H5439H4784H5002H3068

18“Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”H1870H4611H6213H7451H4751H5060H3820

Jeremiah Weeps for His People

19My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries.H4578H4578H2342H3176H7023H3820H3820H1993H2790H8085H5315H6963H7782H8643H4421

20Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed.H7667H7667H7121H776H7703H6597H168H7703H3407H7281

21How long must I see the battle flags and hear the trumpets of war?H7200H5251H8085H6963H7782

22“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the Lord. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!”H5971H191H3045H5530H1121H995H2450H7489H3190H3045

Jeremiah’s Vision of Coming Disaster

23I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.H7200H776H8414H922H8064H216

24I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook.H7200H2022H7493H1389H7043

25I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away.H7200H120H5775H8064H5074

26I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the Lord’s fierce anger.H7200H3759H4057H5892H5422H6440H3068H2740H639

27This is what the Lord says: “The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.H3068H559H776H8077H6213H3617

28The earth will mourn and the heavens will be draped in black because of my decree against my people. I have made up my mind and will not change it.”H776H56H8064H4605H6937H1696H2161H5162H7725

29At the noise of charioteers and archers, the people flee in terror. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the towns have been abandoned—not a person remains!H5892H1272H6963H6571H7198H7411H935H5645H5927H3710H5892H5800H376H3427H2004

30What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing and put on gold jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? Your primping will do you no good! The allies who were your lovers despise you and seek to kill you.H7703H6213H3847H8144H5710H5716H2091H7167H5869H6320H7723H3302H5689H3988H1245H5315

31I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor, the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is beautiful Jerusalem

gasping for breath and crying out, “Help! I’m being murdered!”H8085H6963H2470H6869H1069H6963H1323H6726H3306H6566H3709H188H5315H5888H2026

The Sins of Judah

5“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the Lord. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.H7751H2351H3389H7200H3045H1245H7339H4672H376H3426H6213H4941H1245H530H5545

2But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ they are still telling lies!”H559H3068H2416H7650H8267

3Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.H3068H5869H530H5221H2342H3615H3985H3947H4148H6440H2388H5553H3985H7725

4Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the Lord. They don’t understand God’s laws.H559H1800H2973H3045H1870H3068H4941H430

5So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the Lord and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.H3212H1419H1696H3045H1870H3068H4941H430H3162H7665H5923H5423H4147

6So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.H738H3293H5221H2061H6160H7703H5246H8245H5892H3318H2007H2963H6588H7231H4878H6105

7“How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.H335H5545H2063H1121H5800H7650H3808H430H7650H5003H1413H2181H1004

8They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.H2109H5483H7904H376H6670H7453H802

9Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?H6485H5002H3068H5315H5358H1471

10“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the Lord.H5927H8284H7843H6213H3617H5493H5189H3068

11The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the Lord.H1004H3478H1004H3063H898H898H5002H3068

12“They have lied about the Lord and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.H3584H3068H559H7451H935H7200H2719H7458

13God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”H5030H7307H1696H6213

14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.H559H3068H430H6635H1696H1697H5414H1697H6310H784H5971H6086H398

15O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the Lord. “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.H935H1471H4801H1004H3478H5002H3068H386H1471H5769H1471H1471H3956H3045H8085H1696

16Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.H827H6605H6913H1368

17They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.H398H7105H3899H1121H1323H398H398H6629H1241H398H1612H8384H7567H4013H5892H2007H982H2719

18“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the Lord.H3117H5002H3068H6213H3617

19“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the Lord our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’H559H8478H4100H6213H3068H430H559H5800H5647H5236H430H776H5647H2114H776

A Warning for God’s People

20“Make this announcement to Israel

, and say this to Judah:H5046H1004H3290H8085H3063H559

21Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.H8085H5530H5971H3820H5869H7200H241H8085

22Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.H3372H5002H3068H2342H6440H7760H2344H1366H3220H5769H2706H5674H1530H1607H3201H1993H5674

23But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.H5971H5637H4784H3820H5493H3212

24They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’H559H3824H3372H3068H430H5414H1653H3138H4456H6256H8104H2708H7620H7105

25Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.H5771H5186H2403H4513H2896

26“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.H5971H4672H7563H7789H7918H3353H5324H4889H3920H582

27Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.H3619H4392H5775H1004H4392H4820H1431H6238

28They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.H8080H6245H5674H1697H7451H1777H1779H3490H6743H4941H34H8199

29Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?H6485H5002H3068H5315H5358H1471

30A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land—H8047H8186H1961H776

31the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?H5030H5012H8267H3548H7287H3027H5971H157H6213H319

Jerusalem’s Last Warning

6“Run for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Get out of Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth-hakkerem! A powerful army is coming from the north, coming with disaster and destruction.H1121H1144H5756H7130H3389H8628H7782H8620H5375H4864H1021H7451H8259H6828H1419H7667 2O Jerusalem

, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter—but I will destroy you!H1820H1323H6726H5116H6026 3Enemies will surround you, like shepherds camped around the city. Each chooses a place for his troops to devour.H7462H5739H935H8628H168H5439H7462H376H3027 4They shout, ‘Prepare for battle! Attack at noon!’ ‘No, it’s too late; the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling.’H6942H4421H6965H5927H6672H188H3117H6437H6752H6153H5186 5‘Well then, let’s attack at night and destroy her palaces!’”H6965H5927H3915H7843H759 6This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build siege ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through.H3068H6635H559H3772H6097H8210H5550H3389H5892H6485H6233H7130 7She spouts evil like a fountain. Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. I always see her sickness and sores.H953H6979H4325H6979H7451H2555H7701H8085H6440H8548H2483H4347 8Listen to this warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn from you in disgust. Listen, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins, a land where no one lives.”H3256H3389H5315H3363H7760H8077H776H3427 9This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Even the few who remain in Israel will be picked over again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed.”H559H3068H6635H5953H5953H7611H3478H1612H7725H3027H1219H5552

Judah’s Constant Rebellion

10To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all.H1696H5749H8085H241H6189H3201H7181H1697H3068H2781H2654 11So now I am filled with the Lord’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! “I will pour out my fury on children playing in the streets and on gatherings of young men, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray.H4392H2534H3068H3811H3557H8210H5768H2351H5475H970H3162H376H802H3920H2205H4390H3117 12Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, as will their fields and their wives. For I will raise my powerful fist against the people of this land,” says the Lord.H1004H5437H312H7704H802H3162H5186H3027H3427H776H5002H3068 13“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds.H6996H1419H1214H1215H5030H3548H6213H8267 14They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.H7495H7667H1323H5971H7043H559H7965H7965H7965 15Are they ashamed of their disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.H3001H6213H8441H1571H954H954H1571H3045H3637H5307H5307H6256H6485H3782H559H3068

Judah Rejects the Lord’s Way

16This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’H559H3068H5975H1870H7200H7592H5769H5410H2896H1870H3212H4672H4771H5315H559H3212 17I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’ But you replied, ‘No! We won’t pay attention!’H6965H6822H7181H6963H7782H559H7181 18“Therefore, listen to this, all you nations. Take note of my people’s situation.H8085H1471H3045H5712 19Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word.H8085H776H935H7451H5971H6529H4284H7181H1697H8451H3988 20There’s no use offering me sweet frankincense from Sheba. Keep your fragrant calamus imported from distant lands! I will not accept your burnt offerings. Your sacrifices have no pleasing aroma for me.”H935H3828H7614H2896H7070H4801H776H5930H7522H2077H6149 21Therefore, this is what the Lord says: “I will put obstacles in my people’s path. Fathers and sons will both fall over them. Neighbors and friends will die together.”H559H3068H5414H4383H5971H1H1121H3162H3782H7934H7453H6

An Invasion from the North

22This is what the Lord says: “Look! A great army coming from the north! A great nation is rising against you from far-off lands.H559H3068H5971H935H6828H776H1419H1471H5782H3411H776 23They are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like a roaring sea as they ride forward on horses. They are coming in battle formation, planning to destroy you, beautiful Jerusalem

.”H2388H7198H3591H394H7355H6963H1993H3220H7392H5483H6186H376H4421H1323H6726 24We have heard reports about the enemy, and we wring our hands in fright. Pangs of anguish have gripped us, like those of a woman in labor.H8085H8089H3027H7503H6869H2388H2427H3205 25Don’t go out to the fields! Don’t travel on the roads! The enemy’s sword is everywhere and terrorizes us at every turn!H3318H7704H3212H1870H2719H341H4032H5439 26Oh, my people, dress yourselves in burlap and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son. For suddenly the destroying armies will be upon you!H1323H5971H2296H8242H6428H665H6213H60H3173H8563H4553H7703H6597H935 27“Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals

, that you may determine the quality of my people.H5414H969H4013H5971H3045H974H1870 28They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption.H5493H5637H1980H7400H5178H1270H7843 29The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, for the wickedness remains.H4647H2787H5777H8552H800H784H6884H6884H7723H7451H5423 30I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’ for I, the Lord, am discarding them.”H3988H3701H7121H3068H3988

14[For the choir director: A psalm of David.] Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!H5329H1732H5036H559H3820H430H7843H8581H5949H6213H2896 2The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.H3068H8259H8064H1121H120H7200H3426H7919H1875H430 3But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt

. No one does good, not a single one!H5493H3162H444H6213H2896H259 4Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn't think of praying to the LORD.H6466H205H3045H398H5971H398H3899H7121H3068 5Terror will grip them, for God is with those who obey him.H6343H6342H430H1755H6662 6The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed, but the LORD will protect his people.H954H6098H6041H3068H4268 7Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel? When the LORD restores his people, Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.H5414H3444H3478H6726H3068H7725H7622H5971H3290H1523H3478H8055

Jeremiah 4-6; Psalms 14 - Prayer Tents