Jeremiah:4-5

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* If thou wilt return , O Israel , saith the LORD , yea , return unto Me ; and if thou wilt put away thy detestable things out of My sight , and wilt not waver ; * And wilt swear : 'As the LORD liveth ' in truth , in justice , and in righteousness ; then shall the nations bless themselves by Him , and in Him shall they glory . * For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem : Break up for you a 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 go forth like fire , and burn that none can quench it , because of the evil of your doings . * Declare ye in Judah , and publish in Jerusalem , and say : 'Blow ye the horn in the land '; cry aloud and say : 'Assemble yourselves , and let us go into the fortified cities .' * Set up a standard toward Zion ; put yourselves under covert , stay not ; for I will bring evil from the north , and a great destruction . * A lion is gone up from his thicket , and a destroyer of nations is set out , gone forth from his place ; to make thy land desolate , that thy cities be laid waste , without inhabitant . * For this gird you with sackcloth , lament and wail ; 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 fail , 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 of this people and of Jerusalem ; A hot wind of the high hills in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people , not to fan , nor to cleanse ; * A wind too strong for this shall come for Me ; now will I also utter judgments against them . * Behold , he cometh up as clouds , and his chariots are as the whirlwind ; his horses are swifter than eagles .--'Woe unto us ! for we are undone .'-- * O Jerusalem , wash thy heart from wickedness , that thou mayest be saved . How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee ? * For hark ! one declareth from Dan , and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim : * 'Make ye mention to the nations : Behold--publish concerning Jerusalem--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 ; yea , it is bitter , yea , it reacheth unto thy heart . * My bowels , my bowels ! I writhe in pain ! The chambers of my heart ! My heart moaneth within me ! I cannot hold my peace ! because thou hast heard , O my soul , the sound of the horn , the alarm of war . * Destruction followeth upon destruction , for the whole land is spoiled ; suddenly are my tents spoiled , my curtains in a moment . * How long shall I see the standard , shall I hear the sound of the horn ? * For My people is foolish , they know Me not ; they are sottish children , and they have no understanding ; they are wise to do evil , but to do good they have no knowledge . * I beheld the earth , and , lo , it was waste and void ; and the heavens , and they had no light . * I beheld the mountains , and , lo , they trembled , and all the hills moved to and fro . * I beheld , and , lo , there was no man , and all the birds of the heavens were fled . * I beheld , and , lo , the fruitful field was a wilderness , and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD , and before His fierce anger . * For thus saith the LORD : 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 I have not repented , neither will I turn back from it . * For the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole city fleeth ; they go into the thickets , and climb up upon the rocks ; every city is forsaken , and not a man dwelleth therein . * And thou , that art spoiled , what doest thou , that thou clothest thyself with scarlet , that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold , that thou enlargest thine eyes with paint ? In vain dost thou make thyself fair ; thy lovers despise thee , they seek thy life . * For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail , the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child , the voice of the daughter of Zion , that gaspeth for breath , that spreadeth her hands : 'Woe is me , now ! for my soul fainteth before the 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 doeth justly , that seeketh truth ; and I will pardon her . * And though they say : 'As the LORD liveth ', surely they swear falsely . * O LORD , are not Thine eyes upon truth ? Thou hast stricken them , but they were not affected ; 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 . * And I said : 'Surely these are poor , they are foolish , for they know not the way of the LORD , nor the ordinance of their God ; * I will get me unto the great men , and will speak unto them ; for they know the way of the LORD , and the ordinance of their God .' But these had altogether broken the yoke , and burst the bands . * Wherefore a lion out of the forest doth slay them , a wolf of the deserts doth spoil them , a leopard watcheth over their cities , every one that goeth out thence is torn in pieces ; because their transgressions are many , their backslidings are increased . * Wherefore should I pardon thee ? The children have forsaken Me , and sworn by no-gods ; and when I had fed them to the full , they committed adultery , and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots ' houses . * They are become as well-fed horses , lusty stallions ; every one neigheth after his neighbour 's wife . * Shall I not punish for these things ? saith the LORD ; and shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * Go ye up into her rows , and destroy , but make not a full end ; take away her shoots ; for they are not the LORD 'S . * 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 ; * And the prophets shall become wind , and the word is not in them ; thus be it done unto them .' * Wherefore thus saith the LORD , the 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 , saith the LORD ; it is an enduring nation , it is an ancient nation , a nation whose language thou knowest not , neither understandest what they say . * Their quiver is an open sepulchre , they are all mighty men . * And they shall eat up thy harvest , and thy bread , they shall eat up thy sons and thy daughters , they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds , they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees ; they shall batter thy fortified cities , wherein thou trusteth , with the sword . * But even 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 hath the LORD our God done all these things unto us ?' then shalt Thou say unto 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 ye this in the house of Jacob , and announce it in Judah , saying : * Hear now this , O foolish people , and without understanding , that have eyes , and see not , that have ears , and hear not : * Fear ye not Me ? saith the LORD ; Will ye not tremble at My presence ? Who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea , an everlasting ordinance , which it cannot pass ; 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 the former rain , and the latter in due season ; that keepeth for us the appointed weeks of the harvest .' * Your iniquities have turned away these things , and your sins have withholden good from you . * For among My people are found wicked men ; they pry , as fowlers lie in wait ; 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 are become sleek ; yea , they overpass in deeds of wickedness ; they plead not the cause , the cause of the fatherless , that they might make it to prosper ; and the right of the needy do they not judge . * Shall I not punish for these things ? saith the LORD ; Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * An appalling and horrible thing is come to pass in the land : * The prophets prophesy in the service of falsehood , and the priests bear rule at their beck ; and My people love to have it so ; What then will ye do in the end thereof ? * Put yourselves under covert , ye children of Benjamin , away from the midst of Jerusalem , and blow the horn in Tekoa , and set up a signal on Beth-cherem ; for evil looketh forth from the north , and a great destruction .

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