How Israel Can Return to the Lord
1 The Lord said:
Israel, if you really want
to come back to me, get rid
of those disgusting idols.
2 Make promises only in my name,
and do what you promise!
Then all nations will praise me,
and I will bless them.
3 People of Jerusalem and Judah,
don't be so stubborn!
Your hearts have become hard,
like unplowed ground
where thornbushes grow.
4 With all your hearts,
keep the agreement
I made with you.
But if you are stubborn
and keep on sinning,
my anger will burn like a fire
that cannot be put out.
Disaster Is Coming
The Lord said:
* 5 “Sound the trumpets, my people.
Warn the people of Judah,
‘Run for your lives!
6 Head for Jerusalem
or another walled town!’
“Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending
disaster from the north.
7 An army will come out,
like a lion from its den.
It will destroy nations
and leave your towns empty
and in ruins.”
8 Then I told the people
of Israel,
“Put on sackcloth!
Mourn and cry out,
‘The Lord is still angry
with us.’ ”
9 The Lord said,
“When all this happens,
the king and his officials,
the prophets and the priests
will be shocked and terrified.”
10 I said, “You are the Lord God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?”
The Coming Disaster
11-12 When disaster comes, the Lord will tell you people of Jerusalem,
“I am sending a windstorm
from the desert—
not a welcome breeze.
And it will sweep you away
as punishment for your sins.
13 Look! The enemy army
swoops down like an eagle;
their cavalry and chariots
race faster than storm clouds
blown by the wind.”
Then you will answer,
“We are doomed!”
14 But Jerusalem, there is still time
for you to be saved.
Wash the evil from your hearts
and stop making sinful plans,
15 before a message of disaster
arrives from the hills of Ephraim
and the town of Dan.
16-17 The Lord said,
“Tell the nations that my people
have rebelled against me.
And so an army will come
from far away
to surround Jerusalem
and the towns of Judah.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18 “People of Judah,
your hearts will be in pain,
but it's your own fault
that you will be punished.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Punishment
19 I can't stand the pain!
My heart pounds,
as I twist and turn in agony.
I hear the signal trumpet
and the battle cry of the enemy,
and I cannot be silent.
20 I see the enemy defeating us
time after time,
leaving everything in ruins.
Even my own home
is destroyed in a moment.
21 How long will I see enemy flags
and hear their trumpets?
22 I heard the Lord say,
“My people ignore me.
They are foolish children
who do not understand
that they will be punished.
All they know is how to sin.”
23 After this, I looked around.
The earth was barren,
with no form of life.
The sun, moon, and stars
had disappeared.
24 The mountains were shaking;
25 no people could be seen,
and all the birds
had flown away.
26 Farmland had become a desert,
and towns were in ruins.
The Lord's fierce anger
had done all of this.
The Death of Jerusalem
27-28 The Lord said:
I have made my decision,
and I won't change my mind.
This land will be destroyed,
although not completely.
The sky will turn dark,
and the earth will mourn.
29 Enemy cavalry and archers
shout their battle cry.
People run for their lives
and try to find safety
among trees and rocks.
Every town is empty.
30 Jerusalem, your land
has been wiped out.
But you act like a prostitute
and try to win back your lovers,
who now hate you.
You can put on a red dress,
gold jewelry, and eye shadow,
but it's no use—
your lovers are out to kill you!
31 I heard groaning and crying.
Was it a woman giving birth
to her first child?
No, it was Jerusalem,
gasping for breath
and begging for help.
“I'm dying!” she said.
“They have murdered me.”
A Call to Repentance
1 The Lord says, “People of Israel, if you want to turn, then turn back to me. If you are faithful to me and remove the idols I hate, 2 it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me.”
3 The Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, “Plow up your unplowed fields; do not plant your seeds among thorns. 4 Keep your covenant with me, your Lord, and dedicate yourselves to me, you people of Judah and Jerusalem. If you don't, my anger will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. It will burn, and there will be no one to put it out.”
Judah Is Threatened with Invasion
5 Blow the trumpet throughout the land!
Shout loud and clear!
Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem
to run to the fortified cities.
6 Point the way to Zion!
Run for safety! Don't delay!
The Lord is bringing disaster
and great destruction from the north.
7 Like a lion coming from its hiding place,
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He is coming to destroy Judah.
The cities of Judah will be left in ruins,
and no one will live in them.
8 So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail
because the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from Judah.
9 The Lord said, “On that day kings and officials will lose their courage; priests will be shocked and prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Sovereign Lord, you have completely deceived the people of Jerusalem! You have said there would be peace, but a sword is at their throats.”
11 The time is coming when the people of Jerusalem will be told that a scorching wind is blowing in from the desert toward them. It will not be a gentle wind that only blows away the chaff— 12 the wind that comes at the Lord's command will be much stronger than that! It is the Lord himself who is pronouncing judgment on his people.
Judah Is Surrounded by Enemies
13 Look, the enemy is coming like clouds. Their war chariots are like a whirlwind, and their horses are faster than eagles. We are lost! We are doomed!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts?
15 Messengers from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim announce the bad news. 16 They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah 17 and will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field, because her people have rebelled against the Lord. The Lord has spoken.
18 Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.
Jeremiah's Sorrow for His People
19 The pain! I can't bear the pain!
My heart! My heart is beating wildly!
I can't keep quiet;
I hear the trumpets
and the shouts of battle.
20 One disaster follows another;
the whole country is left in ruins.
Suddenly our tents are destroyed;
their curtains are torn to pieces.
21 How long must I see the battle raging
and hear the blasts of trumpets?
22 The Lord says, “My people are stupid;
they don't know me.
They are like foolish children;
they have no understanding.
They are experts at doing what is evil,
but failures at doing what is good.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Destruction
23 I looked at the earth—it was a barren waste;
at the sky—there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains—they were shaking,
and the hills were rocking back and forth.
25 I saw that there were no people;
even the birds had flown away.
26 The fertile land had become a desert;
its cities were in ruins
because of the Lord's fierce anger.
( 27 The Lord has said that the whole earth will become a wasteland, but that he will not completely destroy it.)
28 The earth will mourn;
the sky will grow dark.
The Lord has spoken
and will not change his mind.
He has made his decision
and will not turn back.
29 At the noise of the cavalry and archers
everyone will run away.
Some will run to the forest;
others will climb up among the rocks.
Every town will be left empty,
and no one will live in them again.
30 Jerusalem, you are doomed!
Why do you dress in scarlet?
Why do you put on jewelry and paint your eyes?
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing!
Your lovers have rejected you
and want to kill you.
31 I heard a cry, like a woman in labor,
a scream like a woman bearing her first child.
It was the cry of Jerusalem gasping for breath,
stretching out her hand and saying,
“I am doomed!
They are coming to kill me!”