Jeremiah 4
EasyEnglish Bible
4 The Lord says this:
‘People of Israel, you should return to me.
If you want to do that,
you must throw away your idols.
Remove those disgusting things
and do not turn away from me again.
2 You must be honest and do what is right.
You must do what you promise to do.
You can show that your promise is true
when you add, “As surely as the Lord is alive.”
Then other nations will see that I have blessed you.
They will pray that I will bless them too.
and they will praise me.’
3 The Lord says this to the people of Jerusalem and all Judah:
‘Prepare yourselves, like a farmer who ploughs his fields.
Do not plant your seeds where weeds are growing.
4 Give yourselves to me, the Lord,
and agree to serve me faithfully.
Remove from your lives everything that is not right,
so that you obey my covenant.
If you do not do that,
I will be very angry with you.
I will punish you like a hot fire that destroys things.
Nobody will be able to stop my anger.
People of Judah and Jerusalem,
if you continue to do wicked things,
I will certainly punish you.’
An enemy will attack from the north
5 The Lord said:
‘Shout this message to the people in Jerusalem and in all Judah:
“Make a loud noise with trumpets in all the land!”
Shout loudly, “Come together!
We must all run to the cities with strong walls!”
6 Lift up a flag that shows the way to Zion!
Run quickly to a safe place! Do not wait!
I will soon bring great trouble from the north.
An enemy will destroy your country.
7 Yes, a strong army is coming,
like a lion that has left its cave.[a]
It has come out to destroy many nations.
It will attack your whole land.
Your cities will become heaps of stones,
and nobody will live in them.
8 So wear rough sackcloth!
Weep and cry aloud.
Say, “The Lord is still very angry with us.” ’
9 The Lord says:
‘When this happens, the king and his officers will be afraid.
The priests will shake with fear.
The prophets will be unable to speak.’
10 Then I said, ‘Lord God, that is terrible! You have deceived the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You told them, “You will live in peace.” But now an enemy is ready to attack us!’
11 The Lord will tell the people at that time, ‘A hot wind will blow from the hills in the desert. It will not be a little wind that blows chaff from wheat. It will be a strong storm that blows away the people that I love. 12 I will send a strong wind of punishment on my people.’
13 Look! The enemy army is coming like dark clouds!
Their chariots make the noise of a storm.
Their horses move faster than eagles in the sky.
Terrible trouble has come. We will all die!
14 People of Jerusalem, remove the evil things from your lives.
Then the Lord may save you.
Do not continue to have wicked ideas.
15 People are bringing a message from Dan
and from the hill country of Ephraim.
The message says that great trouble is coming.[b]
16 They say, ‘Warn all the nations that the enemy is coming!’
Shout this message in Jerusalem:
‘An army is coming from a country that is far away.
They will attack the towns in Judah.
17 Their soldiers are all around Jerusalem's walls,
like guards around a farmer's field.’
The Lord says, ‘This will happen because the people of Judah have turned against me. 18 I will punish you very much, because that is what you deserve. You have lived in a wicked way and you have done evil things. My punishment will give you pain that goes all through you.’
Jeremiah is very upset
19 I am so upset!
My body is shaking with pain.
My heart beats hard inside me.
I cannot keep still.
I cannot keep quiet.
I have heard the noise of the enemy's trumpets
and the shouts of their soldiers.
20 They are winning one battle after another!
They are destroying the whole land.
Our homes are becoming heaps of stones.
They quickly knock down our tents.
21 How long will our enemy continue to attack us?
How long will I see their flags and hear their trumpets?
22 The Lord says,
‘My people are fools.
They do not know me.
They are like children who do not know anything.
They understand nothing.
They are very clever at doing evil things.
But they do not know how to do what is good.’
Jeremiah's vision
23 I looked at the earth.
It had no shape and it was empty.
I looked at the sky.
Its light had disappeared.
24 I looked at the mountains.
They were shaking.
All the hills were moving around.
25 When I looked, I saw no people.
All the birds had flown away.
26 The land where crops had grown was now a desert.
All the cities had become heaps of stones.
The Lord had caused this to happen
because he was very angry.
27 The Lord had said,
‘The whole land will become like a desert,
but I will not completely destroy it.
28 So the earth will be sad and weep.
The sky will become dark.[c]
I have said what I will do.
And I will not change my thoughts.
I will do as I have decided.’
29 When the enemy attacks a town,
the people will run away to escape.
The enemy soldiers will ride on horses,
and they will shoot arrows.
When the people hear them,
some of them will hide among trees.
Some of them will climb up among the rocks.
All the towns will become empty.
Nobody will live in them.
30 Yes, Jerusalem, an enemy has destroyed you!
You tried to make friends,
like a woman who wears a beautiful dress.
You wore your gold and your jewels.
You painted around your eyes.
But all that has not helped you.
The nations that you wanted to be your lovers have turned against you.
Now they want to kill you.
31 I can hear people who are calling out.
It sounds like a woman who is giving birth to her first baby.
She is calling out with great pain.
It is Jerusalem who is crying!
She is calling out for help.
She says, ‘Help me! I am very weak.
These murderers have come to kill me!’
Jeremiah 4
King James Version
4 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
2 And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.
6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7 The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
11 At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,
12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.
13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the Lord.
18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.
19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.
21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.
27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.