Jeremiah

Someone is bringing bad news
from the hill country of Ephraima: 16 “ Report it to this nation. b
JEREMIAH 4:16
Spread the news to the people in
Jerusalem.
Enemies are coming from a faraway
country.
They are shouting words of war
against the cities of Judah.
17 The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem
like men guarding a field.
Judah, you turned against me,
so the enemy is coming against you.”
This message is from the Lord.
18 “ The way you lived and the things you did
brought this trouble to you.
It is your evil that made your life so hard.
Your evil life brought the pain
that hurts deep in your heart.”
Jeremiah’s Cry
19 My sadness and worry is making my
stomach hurt.
I am bent over in pain.
I am so afraid.
My heart is pounding inside me.
I cannot keep quiet, because I have heard
the trumpet blow.
The trumpet is calling the army to war.
20 Disaster follows disaster.
The whole country is destroyed!
Suddenly my tents are destroyed.
My curtains are torn down.
21 Lord, how long must I see the war flags?
How long must I hear the war trumpets?
22 The Lord said, “My people are foolish.
They don’t know me.
They are stupid children.
They don’t understand.
They are skillful at doing evil,
but they don’t know how to do good.”
Disaster Is Coming
23 I looked at the earth.
It was empty;
there was nothing on it.
I looked at the sky,
and its light was gone. c
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were shaking.
All the hills were trembling.
25 I looked, but there were no people.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the good land had become a
desert.
a 4:15 hill country of Ephraim This was the central
part of the land that had been the northern king‑
dom of Israel.
b 4:16 “Report … nation The Hebrew text here is
hard to understand.
c 4:23 the earth … gone Jeremiah is comparing his
country to the time before people were put on the
earth. See Gen. 1:1.
600
All the cities in that land were
destroyed by the Lord and his great
anger.
27 This is what the Lord says:
“ The whole country will be ruined,
but I will not completely destroy the
land.
28 So the people in the land will cry for the
dead.
The sky will grow dark.
I have spoken and will not change.
I have made a decision, and I will not
change my mind.”
29 The people of Judah* will hear the sound
of the horse soldiers and the archers,*
and the people will run away!
Some of them will hide in caves; d
some will hide in the bushes;
some will climb up into the rocks.
All the cities of Judah will be empty.
No one will live in them.
30 Judah, you have been destroyed.
So what are you doing now?
Why are you putting on your best red
dress?
Why are you putting on your gold
jewelry?
Why are you putting on your eye makeup?
You make yourself beautiful,
but it is a waste of time.
Your lovers hate you.
They are trying to kill you.
31 I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a scream like a woman giving birth to
her first baby.
It is the cry of daughter Zion. e
She is lifting her hands in prayer, saying,
“ Oh! I am about to faint!
Murderers are all around me!”
The Evil of the People of Judah
5 1The Lord says, “Walk the streets of Jerusalem.
Look around and think about these
things. Search the public squares of the city.
See if you can find one good person, one who
does honest things and who searches for the
truth. If you find one good person, I will forgive
Jerusalem. 2The people make promises
and say, ‘As the Lord lives.’ But they don’t
really mean it!”
3 Lord, I know that you want people
to be loyal to you.
You hit the people of Judah,*
but they did not feel any pain.
You destroyed them,
but they refused to learn their lesson.
They became very stubborn.
d 4:29 hide in caves This is from the ancient Greek
version.
e 4:31 daughter Zion Another name for Jerusalem.
See “Zion” in the Word List.