Jeremiah 4:5-Jeremiah 6:30 - An Invasion From The North
5 Declare ye in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say, Blow ye the shofar in the land; cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. 6 Set up the banner in Zion: come together, do not delay: for I bring evil from the north wind, and a great destruction. 7 The lion is come up from his den, 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. 8 For this, gird yourselves with sackcloth; lament and howl; for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
9 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.
10 (Then I said, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; when the sword reaches unto the soul.)
11 At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places of the wilderness came toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse. 12 A wind much more violent than these shall come unto me; for now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are given over to be spoiled! 14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness that thou may be saved. How long shalt thou entertain the thoughts of thy iniquity within thee? 15 For the voice is heard from him who brings the news from Dan and from him who causes to hear the affliction from Mount Ephraim. 16 Say ye of the Gentiles; behold, cause it to be heard upon Jerusalem, Watchmen come from a far country and shall give out their voice upon the cities of Judah. 17 As the watchmen of the heritages, they were upon her round about because she has been rebellious against me, saith the LORD. 18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness because it is bitter, because it reaches unto thine heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart makes a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of war. 20 Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land is destroyed; suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment. 21 How long shall I see the banner and hear the voice of the shofar?
22 For my people are foolish; the ignorant sons with no understanding have not known me; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, behold, it was without order, and empty; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I beheld the mountains, and, behold, they trembled, and all the hills were destroyed. 25 I beheld, and, behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled. 26 I beheld, and, behold, Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD and by his fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet I will not make a full end. 28 For this shall the earth be made desolate, and the heavens above be darkened because I spoke; I purposed and did not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city fled from the thunder of the horsemen and bowmen; they went into the thickets of the forests and climbed up upon the rocks; every city was forsaken, and not a man dwells therein. 30 And thou who art destroyed, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson, though thou deck thee with ornaments of gold, though thou paint thy eyes with antimony, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee; they will seek thy life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewails herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is faint because of the murderers.
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and find out and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that execute judgment, that seek the truth; and I will pardon the city. 2 And if they should say, The LORD lives; surely they swear falsely. 3 O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but they did not feel it; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive chastisement; they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
4 Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they have become foolish; for they do not know the way of the LORD nor the judgment of their God. 5 I will go 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. 6 Therefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the desert shall destroy them and a tiger shall lie in wait over their cities; anyone that goes out from there shall be torn in pieces because their rebellions have been multiplied, and their backslidings are increased.
7 How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy sons have forsaken me and sworn by them that are not gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. 8 They were as fed horses in the morning; each one neighed after his neighbour's wife. 9 Shall I not visit for these things? said the LORD; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 Go ye up upon her walls and destroy; but make not a full end; take away her battlements for they are not the LORD's. 11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have made a firm decision to rebel against me, saith the LORD. 12 They have denied the LORD and said, He is not; and evil shall not come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine; 13 but the prophets shall become like wind, and there is no word in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
14 Therefore thus hath the LORD God of the hosts said: Because ye have spoken this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 15 Behold, I will bring a nation upon you from afar, O house of Israel, saith the LORD; it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou dost not know, neither dost thou understand what they say. 16 Their quiver is as an open sepulcher; they are all mighty men. 17 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; and thy fenced cities, in which thou dost trust, they shall bring to nothing with the sword.
18 Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Why does the LORD our God do all these things unto us? Then thou shalt 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. 20 Declare this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying,
21 Hear now this, O foolish people and without heart, who have eyes and do not see; who have ears, and do not hear: 22 Do ye not fear me? saith the LORD; will ye not tremble at my presence, who placed the sand for the bound of the sea by an eternal order, which cannot be broken? Storms shall raise themselves up, yet they shall not prevail; their waves shall roar, yet they shall not pass over it. 23 But this people have a false and rebellious heart; they turned and went. 24 Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; he shall keep us with the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you. 26 For among my people were found wicked men: they lay in wait as he that sets snares; they set a trap of perdition to catch men. 27 As a cage full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit; thus they became great and rich. 28 They are become fat; they shine; yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they did not judge the cause, the cause of the fatherless; with all this they made themselves prosperous; and they did not judge the cause of the poor. 29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A horrible and ugly thing is committed in the land: 31 The prophets prophesied falsely, and the priests bore rule by their hands; and my people love to have it so. What will ye do in the end thereof?
1 O ye sons of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem and blow the shofar in Tekoa and set up as a sign smoke in Bethhaccerem; for evil appears out of the north wind and great destruction. 2 I shall liken the daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. 3 The shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed each one his portion. 4 Prepare ye war against her; arise, and let us go up towards the south. Woe unto us! for the day goes away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 5 Arise, and let us go up by night, and let us destroy her palaces.
6 For thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Hew ye down trees and cast a mount against Jerusalem; this is the city that all of her is to be visited; there is violence in the midst of her. 7 As the waters never cease to flow from a fountain, so her wickedness never ceases to flow; injustice and robbery is heard in her; in my presence continually, sickness and wounds. 8 Chastise Jerusalem lest peradventure my soul be disjointed from thee, lest peradventure I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.
9 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
10 To whom shall I speak, and give warning that they may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken, behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. 11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I have worked hard to hold myself in from pouring it out upon the children in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together; for the husband with the wife shall also be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. 12 And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together; for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD.
13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them each one is given to greed; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely. 14 They treat also the destruction of the daughter of my people lightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. 15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? no, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; therefore, they shall fall among those that shall fall: at the time that I visit them they shall fall, saith the LORD.
16 Thus hath the LORD said, Stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the shofar. But they said, We will not hearken.
18 Therefore hear, ye Gentiles, and know, O congregation of Gentiles. 19 Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts because they have not hearkened unto my words, and they hated my law. 20 To what purpose does this incense come to me from Sheba and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not according to my will, nor are your sacrifices sweet unto me. 21 Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will lay stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together shall fall upon them; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.
22 Thus hath the LORD said, Behold, a people come from the land of the north wind, and a great nation shall be raised from the sides of the earth. 23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and they shall have no mercy; their voice shall roar like the sea; and they shall ride upon horses set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
24 We have heard the fame thereof; our hands wax feeble; anguish has taken hold of us, and pain as of a woman in travail. 25 Do not go forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. 26 O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth and wallow thyself in ashes; make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
27 I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people; thou shalt know and examine their way. 28 They are all rebellious princes; they walk with deception: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters. 29 The bellows are burned; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melts in vain; for the wicked are not plucked away. 30 Reprobate silver shall men call them because the LORD has rejected them.