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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Jeremiah 4 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/jeremiah/4.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" 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href="../jeremiah/3.htm" title="Jeremiah 3">◄</a> Jeremiah 4 <a href="../jeremiah/5.htm" title="Jeremiah 5">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/jeremiah/4.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“If you, Israel, will return,</p><p class="line2">then return to me,”</p> <p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p><p class="line1">“If you put your detestable idols out of my sight</p><p class="line2">and no longer go astray,</p><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>and if in a truthful, just and righteous way</p><p class="line2">you swear, ‘As surely as the <span class="name">Lord</span> lives,’</p><p class="line1">then the nations will invoke blessings by him</p><p class="line2">and in him they will boast.”</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“Break up your unplowed ground</p><p class="line2">and do not sow among thorns.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Circumcise yourselves to the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">circumcise your hearts,</p><p class="line2">you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,</p><p class="line1">or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire</p><p class="line2">because of the evil you have done—</p><p class="line2">burn with no one to quench it.</p></div> <p class="sectionhead">Disaster From the North</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>“Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:</p><p class="line2">‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’</p><p class="line1">Cry aloud and say:</p><p class="line2">‘Gather together!</p><p class="line2">Let us flee to the fortified cities!’</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Raise the signal to go to Zion!</p><p class="line2">Flee for safety without delay!</p><p class="line1">For I am bringing disaster from the north,</p><p class="line2">even terrible destruction.”</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>A lion has come out of his lair;</p><p class="line2">a destroyer of nations has set out.</p><p class="line1">He has left his place</p><p class="line2">to lay waste your land.</p><p class="line1">Your towns will lie in ruins</p><p class="line2">without inhabitant.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>So put on sackcloth,</p><p class="line2">lament and wail,</p><p class="line1">for the fierce anger of the <span class="name">Lord</span></p><p class="line2">has not turned away from us.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“In that day,” declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>,</p><p class="line2">“the king and the officials will lose heart,</p><p class="line1">the priests will be horrified,</p><p class="line2">and the prophets will be appalled.”</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign <span class="name">Lord</span>! How completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats!”</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”</p> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Look! He advances like the clouds,</p><p class="line2">his chariots come like a whirlwind,</p><p class="line1">his horses are swifter than eagles.</p><p class="line2">Woe to us! We are ruined!</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.</p><p class="line2">How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>A voice is announcing from Dan,</p><p class="line2">proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>“Tell this to the nations,</p><p class="line2">proclaim concerning Jerusalem:</p><p class="line1">‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,</p><p class="line2">raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>They surround her like men guarding a field,</p><p class="line2">because she has rebelled against me,’ ”</p><p class="attribution">declares the <span class="name">Lord</span>.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>“Your own conduct and actions</p><p class="line2">have brought this on you.</p><p class="line1">This is your punishment.</p><p class="line2">How bitter it is!</p><p class="line2">How it pierces to the heart!”</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Oh, my anguish, my anguish!</p><p class="line2">I writhe in pain.</p><p class="line1">Oh, the agony of my heart!</p><p class="line2">My heart pounds within me,</p><p class="line2">I cannot keep silent.</p><p class="line1">For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;</p><p class="line2">I have heard the battle cry.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Disaster follows disaster;</p><p class="line2">the whole land lies in ruins.</p><p class="line1">In an instant my tents are destroyed,</p><p class="line2">my shelter in a moment.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>How long must I see the battle standard</p><p class="line2">and hear the sound of the trumpet?</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>“My people are fools;</p><p class="line2">they do not know me.</p><p class="line1">They are senseless children;</p><p class="line2">they have no understanding.</p><p class="line1">They are skilled in doing evil;</p><p class="line2">they know not how to do good.”</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>I looked at the earth,</p><p class="line2">and it was formless and empty;</p><p class="line1">and at the heavens,</p><p class="line2">and their light was gone.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>I looked at the mountains,</p><p class="line2">and they were quaking;</p><p class="line2">all the hills were swaying.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>I looked, and there were no people;</p><p class="line2">every bird in the sky had flown away.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;</p><p class="line2">all its towns lay in ruins</p><p class="line2">before the <span class="name">Lord</span>, before his fierce anger.</p></div> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>This is what the <span class="name">Lord</span> says:</p><div class="stanza"><p class="line1">“The whole land will be ruined,</p><p class="line2">though I will not destroy it completely.</p> <p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Therefore the earth will mourn</p><p class="line2">and the heavens above grow dark,</p><p class="line1">because I have spoken and will not relent,</p><p class="line2">I have decided and will not turn back.”</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>At the sound of horsemen and archers</p><p class="line2">every town takes to flight.</p><p class="line1">Some go into the thickets;</p><p class="line2">some climb up among the rocks.</p><p class="line1">All the towns are deserted;</p><p class="line2">no one lives in them.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>What are you doing, you devastated one?</p><p class="line2">Why dress yourself in scarlet</p><p class="line2">and put on jewels of gold?</p><p class="line1">Why highlight your eyes with makeup?</p><p class="line2">You adorn yourself in vain.</p><p class="line1">Your lovers despise you;</p><p class="line2">they want to kill you.</p></div> <div class="stanza"><p class="line1"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/jeremiah/4-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,</p><p class="line2">a groan as of one bearing her first child—</p><p class="line1">the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,</p><p class="line2">stretching out her hands and saying,</p><p class="line1">“Alas! I am fainting;</p><p class="line2">my life is given over to murderers.”</p></div><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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