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Judah Threatened with Invasion

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

² And if you will ^(C1)swear, 'As the LORD lives,'
^(C2)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the ^(C3)nations will bless themselves in Him,
And ^(C4)in Him they will boast."

³ For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

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

⁴ "^(C1)Circumcise yourselves to the LORD
And remove the foreskins of your hearts,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My ^(C2)wrath will spread like fire
And burn with ^(C3)no one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your deeds."

⁵ Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
"^(C1)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
'^(C2)Assemble, and let's go
Into the fortified cities.'

⁶ "Raise a ^(C1)flag toward Zion!
Take refuge, 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 waste.
Your cities will be ruins,
Without an inhabitant.

⁸ "For this, ^(C1)put on sackcloth,
Mourn and wail;
For the ^(C2)fierce anger of the LORD
Has not turned away from us."

¹⁰ Then I said, "Oh, Lord ^(F1)GOD! Surely You have utterly ^(C1)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, '^(C2)You will have peace'; yet a sword touches the ^(F2)throat."

¹¹ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, "A ^(C1)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness, in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse,¹² a wind too ^(F1)strong for ^(F2)this—will come ^(F3)at My command; now I will also pronounce 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 ruined!"

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

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

¹⁶ "Report it to the nations, now!
Proclaim to Jerusalem,
'^(F1)Enemies are coming from a ^(C1)remote country,
And ^(C2)they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

¹⁷ 'Like watchmen of a field they are ^(C1)against her all around,
Because she has ^(C2)rebelled against Me,' declares the LORD.

¹⁸ "Your ^(C1)ways and your deeds
Have ^(F1)brought these things upon you.
This is your evil. How ^(C2)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!"

Grief over Judah's Devastation

^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 keep silent,
Because, ^(F3)my soul, you have heard
The ^(C3)sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.

^20 (C1)Disaster upon disaster is proclaimed,
For the ^(C2)whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my ^(C3)tents are devastated,
And my curtains in an instant.

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

²² "^(C1)For My people are foolish,
They do not know Me;
They are foolish children
And have no understanding.
They are skillful at ^(C2)doing evil,
But they do not know how to do good."

²³ I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a ^(F1)(C1)formless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.

²⁴ I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were ^(C1)quaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.

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

²⁶ I looked, and behold, ^(F1)the ^(C1)fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the LORD, before His fierce anger.

²⁷ For this is what the LORD says:
"The ^(C1)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will ^(C2)not execute a complete destruction.

²⁸ "For this the ^(C1)earth will mourn,
And the ^(C2)heavens above will become dark,
Because I have ^(C3)spoken, I have purposed,
And I have not ^(F1)changed My mind, nor will I turn from it."

²⁹ At the sound of the horseman and archer ^(C1)every city flees;
They ^(C2)go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
^(C3)Every city is abandoned,
And no one lives in them.

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

³¹ For I heard a voice cry as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child.
The voice of the daughter of Zion ^(C1)gasping for breath,
^(C2)Stretching out her ^(F1)hands, saying,
"Ah, woe to me, for ^(F2)I faint before murderers."