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¹ "If you return, O Israel,
declares the Lord,
    ^(a)to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
    ^(b)and do not waver,
^2 (c)and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,'
    in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then ^(d)nations shall bless themselves in him,
    ^(e)and in him shall they glory."

^(f)"Break up your fallow ground,
    and ^(g)sow not among thorns.
^4 (h)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
    remove the foreskin of your hearts,
    O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
⁽ⁱ⁾lest my wrath go forth like fire,
    and burn with none to quench it,
    ^(j)because of the evil of your deeds."

^(k)"Blow the trumpet through the land;
    cry aloud and say,
^(l)‘Assemble, and let us go
    into the fortified cities!'
^6 (m)Raise a standard toward Zion,
    flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from ⁽ⁿ⁾the north,
    ^(o)and great destruction.
^7 (p)A lion has gone up from his thicket,
    a destroyer of nations has set out;
    he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
    your cities will be ruins
    ^(q)without inhabitant.
⁸ For this ^(r)put on sackcloth,
    lament and wail,
for ^(s)the fierce anger of the Lord
    has not turned back from us."

¹³ Behold, he comes up like clouds;
    ^(x)his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are ^(y)swifter than eagles—
    woe to us, ^(z)for we are ruined!
¹⁴ O Jerusalem, ^(aa)wash your heart from evil,
    that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
    lodge within you?
¹⁵ For a voice ^(ab)declares from Dan
    and proclaims trouble from ^(ac)Mount Ephraim.
¹⁶ Warn the nations that he is coming;
    announce to Jerusalem,
"Besiegers come ^(ad)from a distant land;
    they shout against the cities of Judah.
¹⁷ Like keepers of a field ^(ae)are they against her all around,
    because she has rebelled against me,
declares the Lord.
¹⁸ Your ways and your deeds
    have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and ^(af)it is bitter;
    it has reached your very heart."

^19 (ag)My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
    Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
    I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
    the alarm of war.
^20 (ah)Crash follows hard on crash;
    the whole land is laid waste.
^(ai)Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
    my curtains in a moment.
²¹ How long must I see the standard
    and hear the sound of the trumpet?

²² "For ^(aj)my people are foolish;
    they know me not;
they are stupid children;
    they have no understanding.
^(ak)They are ‘wise'—in doing evil!
    But how to do good they know not."

²³ I looked on the earth, and behold, it was ^(al)without form and void;
    ^(am)and to the heavens, and they had no light.
²⁴ I looked on ^(an)the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
    and all the hills moved to and fro.
^25 (ao)I looked, and behold, there was no man,
    and all the birds of the air had fled.
²⁶ I looked, and behold, the ^(ap)fruitful land was a desert,
    and all its cities were laid in ruins
    before the Lord, before ^(aq)his fierce anger.

^28 (as)"For this the earth shall mourn,
    ^(at)and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
    ^(au)I have not relented, nor will I turn back."

²⁹ At the noise of horseman and archer
    every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
    all the cities are forsaken,
    and ^(av)no man dwells in them.
³⁰ And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
    ^(aw)that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
    ^(ax)that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
    ^(ay)Your lovers despise you;
    they seek your life.
³¹ For I heard ^(az)a cry as of a woman in labor,
    anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
    ^(ba)stretching out her hands,
"Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers."