Jeremiah 4:1-10

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

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

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
c "Break up your fallow ground,
and d sow not among thorns.
 4 e Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
f lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
g because of the evil of your deeds."

Disaster from the North

5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
h "Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
i 'Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!'
 6 j Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from k the north,
l and great destruction.
 7 m 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
n without inhabitant.
 8 For this o put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for p the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us."

9 "In that day, declares the Lord, q courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded." 10 Then I said, "Ah, Lord God, r surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'It shall be well with you,' whereas the sword has reached their very life."

  1. Cross References
    Joel 2:12
    Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.
  2. Cross References
    1 Kings 14:15
    The Lord will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and root up Israel out of this good land that he gave to their fathers and scatter them beyond the Euphrates, because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 6:13
    It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:16
    So that he who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten and are hidden from my eyes.
  5. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 1:31
    So that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
    2 Corinthians 10:17
    "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."
  6. Cross References
    Hosea 10:12
    Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
  7. Cross References
    Matthew 13:7
    Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns g...
    Matthew 13:22
    As for what was sown among thorns, this is the ...
    Mark 4:7
    Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns gr...
    Mark 4:18
    And others are the ones sown among thorns. They...
    Luke 8:7
    And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew...
    Luke 8:14
    And as for what fell among the thorns, they are...
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 10:16
    Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
    Jeremiah 9:26
    Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
    Romans 2:28 - 29
    For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
  9. Cross References
    Jeremiah 21:12
    O house of David! Thus says the Lord : "'Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.'
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:20
    The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.
  11. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:1
    Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin, from the midst of Jerusalem! Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms out of the north, and great destruction.
    Hosea 5:8
    Blow the horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah. Sound the alarm at Beth-aven; we follow you, O Benjamin!
    Joel 2:1
    Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near.
  12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 8:14
    Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
  13. Cross References
    Jeremiah 50:2
    "Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.'
    Jeremiah 51:12
    Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon; make the watch strong; set up watchmen; prepare the ambushes; for the Lord has both planned and done what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
    Jeremiah 51:27
    Set up a standard on the earth; blow the trumpet among the nations; prepare the nations for war against her; summon against her the kingdoms, Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; appoint a marshal against her; bring up horses like bristling locusts.
  14. Cross References
    Jeremiah 1:13
    The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:28
    But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.
  16. Cross References
    Jeremiah 2:15
    The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
    Jeremiah 5:6
    Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great.
    Jeremiah 49:19
    Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?
  17. Cross References
    Jeremiah 33:10
    Thus says the Lord : In this place of which you say, 'It is a waste without man or beast,' in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again
    Jeremiah 34:22
    Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them back to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.
    Jeremiah 46:19
    Prepare yourselves baggage for exile, O inhabitants of Egypt! For Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin, without inhabitant.
    Isaiah 5:9
    The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: "Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
    Isaiah 6:11
    Then I said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste.
  18. Cross References
    Jeremiah 6:26
    O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
    Isaiah 22:12
    In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth.
    Isaiah 32:11
    Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist.
  19. Cross References
    Numbers 25:4
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.
    Psalms 78:49
    He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.
    Isaiah 13:9 - 13
    Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.
  20. Cross References
    Psalms 48:4 - 5
    For behold, the kings assembled; they came on together.
  21. Cross References
    Ezekiel 14:9
    And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
    1 Kings 22:22
    And the Lord said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.