Jeremiah 4:1-4

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."

  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.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.