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Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him

¹ "If you will ^(C1)return, O Israel," declares Yahweh,
"Then you should return to Me.
And ^(C2)if you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver

² And you will ^(C1)swear, 'As Yahweh lives,'
^(C2)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the ^(C3)nations will ^(F1)be blessed in Him,
And ^(C4)in Him they will boast."

³ For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,

"^(F1)(C1)Break up your fallow ground,
And ^(C2)do not sow among thorns.

⁴ "^(C1)Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My ^(C2)wrath go forth like fire
And burn with ^(C3)none to quench it
Because of the evil of your deeds."

Evil from the North

⁵ Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,
"^(C1)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
'^(C2)Gather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.'

⁶ "Lift up a ^(C1)standard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing ^(C2)evil from the north,
And great destruction.

⁷ "A ^(C1)lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a ^(C2)destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To ^(C3)make your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.

⁸ "For this, ^(C1)I gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the ^(C2)burning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us."

¹⁰ Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly ^(C1)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, '^(C2)You will have peace'; whereas a sword touches the ^(F1)throat."

¹¹ In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A ^(F1)(C1)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,¹² a wind too full for these things—will come ^(F1)for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.

¹³ "Behold, he ^(C1)goes up like clouds,
And his ^(C2)chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are ^(C3)swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for ^(C4)we are devastated!"

¹⁴ Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your ^(C1)wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?

¹⁵ For a voice declares from ^(C1)Dan,
And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.

¹⁶ "Make mention of it to the nations, saying, 'Behold!'
Make it heard over Jerusalem,
'Besiegers come from a ^(C1)far country,
And ^(C2)give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ 'Like watchmen of a field they are ^(C1)against her round about
Because she has ^(C2)rebelled against Me,' declares Yahweh.

¹⁸ "Your ^(C1)ways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How ^(C2)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!"

Anguish over Judah's Desolation

^19 (C1)My ^(F1)soul, my ^(F1)soul! I am in anguish! ^(F2)Oh, my heart!
My ^(C2)heart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because ^(F3)you have heard, O my soul,
The ^(C3)sound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.

^20 (C1)Destruction upon destruction is called out,
For the ^(C2)whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ^(C3)tents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.

²¹ How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?

²² "^(C1)For My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to ^(C2)do evil,
But to do good they do not know."

²³ I saw on the earth, and behold, it was ^(F1)(C1)formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴ I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were ^(C1)quaking,
And all the hills ^(F1)moved to and fro.

²⁵ I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the ^(C1)birds of the sky had fled.

²⁶ I saw, and behold, ^(F1)the ^(C1)fruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.

²⁷ For thus says Yahweh,

"The ^(C1)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will ^(C2)not execute a complete destruction.

²⁸ "For this the ^(C1)earth shall mourn
And the ^(C2)heavens above be dark
Because I have ^(C3)spoken; I have purposed,
And I will not ^(F1)relent, nor will I turn from it."

²⁹ At the sound of the horseman and bowman ^(C1)every city flees;
They ^(C2)go into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
^(C3)Every city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.

³⁰ And you, O devastated one, ^(C1)what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you ^(C2)enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your ^(F1)(C3)lovers despise you;
They seek your life.

³¹ For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,
The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,
The sound of the daughter of Zion ^(C1)gasping for breath,
^(C2)Stretching out her ^(F1)hands, saying,
"Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers."