Jeremiah:4-5

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* If thou wilt return , O Israel Yisra #el #, saith the LORD , return unto me : and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight , then shalt thou not remove . * And thou shalt swear , The LORD liveth , in truth , in judgment , and in righteousness ; and the nations shall bless themselves in him , and in him shall they glory . * For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem , Break up your fallow ground , and sow not among thorns . * Circumcise yourselves to the LORD , and take away the foreskins of your heart , ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem : lest my fury come forth like fire , and burn that none can quench it , because of the evil of your doings ma #alal #. * Declare ye in Judah , and publish in Jerusalem ; and say , Blow ye the trumpet in the land : cry , gather together , and say , Assemble yourselves , and let us go into the defenced cities . * Set up the standard toward Zion : retire , stay not : for I will bring evil from the north , and a great destruction . * The lion is come up from his thicket , and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way ; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ; and thy cities shall be laid waste , without an inhabitant . * For this gird you with sackcloth , lament and howl : for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us . * And it shall come to pass at that day , saith the LORD , that the heart of the king shall perish , and the heart of the princes ; and the priests shall be astonished , and the prophets shall wonder . * Then said I , Ah , Lord GOD ! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem , saying , Ye shall have peace ; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul . * At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem , A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people , not to fan , nor to cleanse , * Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me : now also will I give sentence against them . * Behold , he shall come up as clouds , and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind : his horses are swifter than eagles . Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled . * O Jerusalem , wash thine heart from wickedness , that thou mayest be saved . How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ? * For a voice declareth from Dan , and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim . * Make ye mention to the nations ; behold , publish against Jerusalem , that watchers come from a far country , and give out their voice against the cities of Judah . * As keepers of a field , are they against her round about ; because she hath been rebellious against me , saith the LORD . * Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee ; this is thy wickedness , because it is bitter , because it reacheth unto thine heart . * My bowels me #ah #, my bowels me #ah #! I am pained (8675 ) at my very heart ; my heart maketh a noise in me ; I cannot hold my peace , because thou hast heard , O my soul , the sound of the trumpet , the alarm of war . * Destruction upon destruction is cried ; for the whole land is spoiled : suddenly are my tents spoiled , and my curtains in a moment . * How long shall I see the standard , and hear the sound of the trumpet ? * For my people is foolish , they have not known me ; they are sottish children , and they have none understanding : they are wise to do evil , but to do good they have no knowledge . * I beheld the earth , and , lo , it was without form , and void ; and the heavens , and they had no light . * I beheld the mountains , and , lo , they trembled , and all the hills moved lightly . * I beheld , and , lo , there was no man , and all the birds of the heavens were fled . * I beheld , and , lo , the fruitful place was a wilderness , and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD , and by his fierce anger . * For thus hath the LORD said , The whole land shall be desolate ; yet will I not make a full end . * For this shall the earth mourn , and the heavens above be black : because I have spoken it , I have purposed it , and will not repent , neither will I turn back from it . * The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen qesheth #; they shall go into thickets , and climb up upon the rocks : every city shall be forsaken , and not a man dwell therein . * And when thou art spoiled , what wilt thou do ? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson , though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold , though thou rentest thy face with painting , in vain shalt thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers will despise thee , they will seek thy life . * For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail , and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child , the voice of the daughter of Zion , that bewaileth herself , that spreadeth her hands , saying , Woe is me now ! for my soul is wearied because of murderers . * Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem , and see now , and know , and seek in the broad places thereof , if ye can find a man , if there be any that executeth judgment , that seeketh the truth ; and I will pardon it . * And though they say , The LORD liveth ; surely they swear falsely . * O LORD , are not thine eyes upon the truth ? thou hast stricken them , but they have not grieved ; thou hast consumed them , but they have refused to receive correction : they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return . * Therefore I said , Surely these are poor ; they are foolish : for they know not the way of the LORD , nor the judgment of their God . * I will get me unto the great men , and will speak unto them ; for they have known the way of the LORD , and the judgment of their God : but these have altogether broken the yoke , and burst the bonds . * Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them , and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them , a leopard shall watch over their cities : every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces : because their transgressions are many , and their backslidings are increased . * How shall I pardon thee for this zo #th #? thy children have forsaken me , and sworn by them that are no gods : when I had fed them to the full , they then committed adultery , and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots houses . * They were as fed horses in the morning : every one neighed after his neighbours wife . * Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the LORD : and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * Go ye up upon her walls , and destroy ; but make not a full end : take away her battlements ; for they are not the LORDS . * For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me , saith the LORD . * They have belied the LORD , and said , It is not he ; neither shall evil come upon us ; neither shall we see sword nor famine ra #ab #: * And the prophets shall become wind , and the word is not in them : thus shall it be done unto them . * Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts , Because ye speak this word , behold , I will make my words in thy mouth fire , and this people wood , and it shall devour them . * Lo , I will bring a nation upon you from far , O house of Israel Yisra #el #, saith the LORD : it is a mighty nation , it is an ancient nation , a nation whose language thou knowest not , neither understandest what they say . * Their quiver is as an open sepulchre , they are all mighty men . * And they shall eat up thine harvest , and thy bread , which thy sons and thy daughters should eat : they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds : they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees t @#en #: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities , wherein thou trustedst , with the sword . * Nevertheless in those days , saith the LORD , I will not make a full end with you . * And it shall come to pass , when ye shall say , Wherefore tachath # doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us ? then shalt thou answer them , Like as ye have forsaken me , and served strange gods in your land , so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours . * Declare this in the house of Jacob Ya #aqob #, and publish it in Judah , saying , * Hear now this , O foolish people , and without understanding ; which have eyes , and see not ; which have ears , and hear not : * Fear ye not me ? saith the LORD : will ye not tremble at my presence , which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree , that it cannot pass it : and though the waves thereof toss themselves , yet can they not prevail ; though they roar , yet can they not pass over it ? * But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart ; they are revolted and gone . * Neither say they in their heart , Let us now fear the LORD our God , that giveth rain , both the former and the latter , in his season : he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest . * Your iniquities have turned away these things , and your sins have withholden good things from you . * For among my people are found wicked men : they lay wait , as he that setteth snares ; they set a trap , they catch men . * As a cage is full of birds , so are their houses full of deceit : therefore they are become great , and waxen rich . * They are waxen fat , they shine : yea , they overpass the deeds of the wicked : they judge not the cause , the cause of the fatherless , yet they prosper ; and the right of the needy do they not judge . * Shall I not visit for these things ? saith the LORD : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land ; * The prophets prophesy falsely , and the priests bear rule by their means ; and my people love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof ? * O ye children of Benjamin , gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem , and blow the trumpet in Tekoa , and set up a sign of fire in Bethhaccerem Beyth hak-Kerem #: for evil appeareth out of the north , and great destruction .

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