Font Size
Jeremiah 4
Living Bible
Jeremiah 4
Living Bible
4 O Israel, if you will truly return to me and absolutely discard your idols, 2 and if you will swear by me alone, the living God, and begin to live good, honest, clean lives, then you will be a testimony to the nations of the world, and they will come to me and glorify my name.
3 The Lord is saying to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Plow up the hardness of your hearts; otherwise the good seed will be wasted among the thorns. 4 Cleanse your minds and hearts,[a] not just your bodies, or else my anger will burn you to a crisp because of all your sins. And no one will be able to put the fire out.
5 Shout to Jerusalem and to all Judea, telling them to sound the alarm throughout the land. “Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!” 6 Send a signal from Jerusalem: “Flee now, don’t delay!” For I the Lord am bringing vast destruction on you from the north.[b] 7 A lion—a destroyer of nations—stalks from his lair; and he is headed for your land. Your cities will lie in ruin without inhabitant. 8 Put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not stopped yet. 9 In that day, says the Lord, the king and the princes will tremble in fear; and the priests and the prophets will be stricken with horror.
10 (Then I said, “But Lord, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised great blessings on Jerusalem. Yet the sword is even now poised to strike them dead!”)
11-12 At that time he will send a burning wind from the desert upon them—not in little gusts but in a roaring blast—and he will pronounce their doom. 13 The enemy shall roll down upon us like a storm wind; his chariots are like a whirlwind; his steeds are swifter than eagles. Woe, woe upon us, for we are doomed.
14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your hearts while there is time. You can yet be saved by casting out your evil thoughts. 15 From Dan and from Mount Ephraim your doom has been announced. 16 Warn the other nations that the enemy is coming from a distant land, and they shout against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. 17 They surround Jerusalem like shepherds moving in on some wild animal! For my people have rebelled against me, says the Lord. 18 Your ways have brought this down upon you; it is a bitter dose of your own medicine, striking deep within your hearts.
19 My heart, my heart—I writhe in pain; my heart pounds within me. I cannot be still because I have heard, O my soul, the blast of the enemies’ trumpets and the enemies’ battle cries. 20 Wave upon wave of destruction rolls over the land, until it lies in utter ruin; suddenly, in a moment, every house is crushed. 21 How long must this go on? How long must I see war and death surrounding me?
22 “Until my people leave their foolishness, for they refuse to listen to me; they are dull, retarded children who have no understanding. They are smart enough at doing wrong, but for doing right they have no talent, none at all.”
23 I looked down upon their land, and as far as I could see in all directions everything was ruins. And all the heavens were dark. 24 I looked at the mountains and saw that they trembled and shook. 25 I looked, and mankind was gone, and the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 The fertile valleys were wilderness, and all the cities were broken down before the presence of the Lord, crushed by his fierce anger. 27 The Lord’s decree of desolation covers all the land.
“Yet,” he says, “there will be a little remnant of my people left. 28 The earth shall mourn, the heavens shall be draped with black, because of my decree against my people; I have made up my mind and will not change it.”
29 All the cities flee in terror at the noise of marching armies coming near. The people hide in the bushes and flee to the mountains. All the cities are abandoned—all have fled in terror. 30 Why do you put on your most beautiful clothing and jewelry and brighten your eyes with mascara? It will do you no good! Your allies despise you and will kill you.
31 I have heard great crying like that of a woman giving birth to her first child; it is the cry of my people gasping for breath, pleading for help, prostrate before their murderers.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:4 Cleanse your minds and hearts, literally, “Circumcise yourselves . . . remove the foreskin of your hearts.”
- Jeremiah 4:6 from the north, i.e., from Babylon. Nabopolasser and Nebuchadnezzar II soon attacked.
Jeremiah 4
New International Version
Jeremiah 4
New International Version
4 “If you, Israel, will return,(A)
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols(B) out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear,(C) ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’(D)
then the nations will invoke blessings(E) by him
and in him they will boast.(F)”
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Break up your unplowed ground(G)
and do not sow among thorns.(H)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,(I)
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath(J) will flare up and burn like fire(K)
because of the evil(L) you have done—
burn with no one to quench(M) it.
Disaster From the North
5 “Announce in Judah and proclaim(N) in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpet(O) throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’(P)
6 Raise the signal(Q) to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster(R) from the north,(S)
even terrible destruction.”
7 A lion(T) has come out of his lair;(U)
a destroyer(V) of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste(W) your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins(X)
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,(Y)
lament(Z) and wail,
for the fierce anger(AA) of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,(AB)
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”(AC)
10 Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived(AD) this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’(AE) when the sword is at our throats!”
11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind(AF) from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind(AG) too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments(AH) against them.”
13 Look! He advances like the clouds,(AI)
his chariots(AJ) come like a whirlwind,(AK)
his horses(AL) are swifter than eagles.(AM)
Woe to us! We are ruined!(AN)
14 Jerusalem, wash(AO) the evil from your heart and be saved.(AP)
How long(AQ) will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,(AR)
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.(AS)
16 “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,(AT)
raising a war cry(AU) against the cities of Judah.(AV)
17 They surround(AW) her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled(AX) against me,’”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your own conduct and actions(AY)
have brought this on you.(AZ)
This is your punishment.
How bitter(BA) it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”
19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!(BB)
I writhe in pain.(BC)
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds(BD) within me,
I cannot keep silent.(BE)
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;(BF)
I have heard the battle cry.(BG)
20 Disaster follows disaster;(BH)
the whole land lies in ruins.(BI)
In an instant my tents(BJ) are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I see the battle standard(BK)
and hear the sound of the trumpet?(BL)
22 “My people are fools;(BM)
they do not know me.(BN)
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.(BO)
They are skilled in doing evil;(BP)
they know not how to do good.”(BQ)
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;(BR)
and at the heavens,
and their light(BS) was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(BT)
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.(BU)
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;(BV)
all its towns lay in ruins(BW)
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.(BX)
27 This is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be ruined,(BY)
though I will not destroy(BZ) it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourn(CA)
and the heavens above grow dark,(CB)
because I have spoken and will not relent,(CC)
I have decided and will not turn back.(CD)”
29 At the sound of horsemen and archers(CE)
every town takes to flight.(CF)
Some go into the thickets;
some climb up among the rocks.(CG)
All the towns are deserted;(CH)
no one lives in them.
Living Bible (TLB)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.