Parallel Bible results for "jeremiah 4"

Jeremiah 4

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 If you will come back, O Israel, says the Lord, you will come back to me: and if you will put away your disgusting ways, you will not be sent away from before me.

2 And you will take your oath, By the living Lord, in good faith and wisdom and righteousness; and the nations will make use of you as a blessing, and in you will they take a pride.

3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Get your unworked land ploughed up, do not put in your seeds among thorns.

4 Undergo a circumcision of the heart, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem: or my wrath may come out like fire, burning so that no one is able to put it out, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Say openly in Judah, give it out in Jerusalem, and say, Let the horn be sounded in the land: crying out in a loud voice, Come together, and let us go into the walled towns.

6 Put up a flag for a sign to Zion: go in flight so that you may be safe, waiting no longer: for I will send evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 A lion has gone up from his secret place in the woods, and one who makes waste the nations is on his way; he has gone out from his place, to make your land unpeopled, so that your towns will be made waste, with no man living in them.

8 For this put on haircloth, with weeping and loud crying: for the burning wrath of the Lord is not turned back from us.

9 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king will be dead in him, and the hearts of the rulers; and the priests will be overcome with fear, and the prophets with wonder.

10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! your words were not true when you said to this people and to Jerusalem, You will have peace; when the sword has come even to the soul.

11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind from the open hilltops in the waste land is blowing on the daughter of my people, not for separating or cleaning the grain;

12 A full wind will come for me: and now I will give my decision against them.

13 See, he will come up like the clouds, and his war-carriages like the storm-wind: his horses are quicker than eagles. Sorrow is ours, for destruction has come on us.

14 O Jerusalem, make your heart clean from evil, so that you may have salvation. How long are evil purposes to have a resting-place in you?

15 For a voice is sounding from Dan, giving out evil from the hills of Ephraim:

16 Make this come to the minds of the nations, make a statement openly against Jerusalem, that attackers are coming from a far country and their voices will be loud against the towns of Judah.

17 Like keepers of a field they are against her on every side; because she has been fighting against me, says the Lord.

18 Your ways and your doings have made these things come on you; this is your sin; truly it is bitter, going deep into your heart.

19 My soul, my soul! I am pained to my inmost heart; my heart is troubled in me; I am not able to be quiet, because the sound of the horn, the note of war, has come to my ears.

20 News is given of destruction on destruction; all the land is made waste: suddenly my tents, straight away my curtains, are made waste.

21 How long will I go on seeing the flag and hearing the sound of the war-horn?

22 For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.

23 Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.

24 Looking at the mountains, I saw them shaking, and all the hills were moved about.

25 Looking, I saw that there was no man, and all the birds of heaven had gone in flight.

26 Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.

27 For this is what the Lord has said: All the land will become a waste; I will make destruction complete.

28 The earth will be weeping for this, and the heavens on high will be black: because I have said it, and I will not go back from it; it is my purpose, and it will not be changed.

29 All the land is in flight because of the noise of the horsemen and the bowmen; they have taken cover in the woodland and up on the rocks: every town has been given up, not a man is living in them.

30 And you, when you are made waste, what will you do? Though you are clothed in red, though you make yourself beautiful with ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes wide with paint, it is for nothing that you make yourself fair; your lovers have no more desire for you, they have designs on your life.

31 A voice has come to my ears like the voice of a woman in birth-pains, the pain of one giving birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, fighting for breath, stretching out her hands, saying, Now sorrow is mine! for my strength is gone from me before the takers of life.

Good News Translation GNT

1 The Lord says, "People of Israel, if you want to turn, then turn back to me. If you are faithful to me and remove the idols I hate,

2 it will be right for you to swear by my name. Then all the nations will ask me to bless them, and they will praise me."

3 The Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, "Plow up your unplowed fields; do not plant your seeds among thorns.

4 Keep your covenant with me, your Lord, and dedicate yourselves to me, you people of Judah and Jerusalem. If you don't, my anger will burn like fire because of the evil things you have done. It will burn, and there will be no one to put it out."

5 Blow the trumpet throughout the land! Shout loud and clear! Tell the people of Judah and Jerusalem to run to the fortified cities.

6 Point the way to Zion! Run for safety! Don't delay! The Lord is bringing disaster and great destruction from the north.

7 Like a lion coming from its hiding place, a destroyer of nations has set out. He is coming to destroy Judah. The cities of Judah will be left in ruins, and no one will live in them.

8 So put on sackcloth, and weep and wail because the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from Judah.

9 The Lord said, "On that day kings and officials will lose their courage; priests will be shocked and prophets will be astonished."

10 Then I said, "Sovereign Lord, you have completely deceived the people of Jerusalem! You have said there would be peace, but a sword is at their throats."

11 The time is coming when the people of Jerusalem will be told that a scorching wind is blowing in from the desert toward them. It will not be a gentle wind that only blows away the chaff -

12 the wind that comes at the Lord's command will be much stronger than that! It is the Lord himself who is pronouncing judgment on his people.

13 Look, the enemy is coming like clouds. Their war chariots are like a whirlwind, and their horses are faster than eagles. We are lost! We are doomed!

14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart, so that you may be saved. How long will you go on thinking sinful thoughts?

15 Messengers from the city of Dan and from the hills of Ephraim announce the bad news.

16 They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah

17 and will surround Jerusalem like men guarding a field, because her people have rebelled against the Lord. The Lord has spoken.

18 Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.

19 The pain! I can't bear the pain! My heart! My heart is beating wildly! I can't keep quiet; I hear the trumpets and the shouts of battle.

20 One disaster follows another; the whole country is left in ruins. Suddenly our tents are destroyed; their curtains are torn to pieces.

21 How long must I see the battle raging and hear the blasts of trumpets?

22 The Lord says, "My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are like foolish children; they have no understanding. They are experts at doing what is evil, but failures at doing what is good."

23 I looked at the earth - it was a barren waste; at the sky - there was no light.

24 I looked at the mountains - they were shaking, and the hills were rocking back and forth.

25 I saw that there were no people; even the birds had flown away.

26 The fertile land had become a desert; its cities were in ruins because of the Lord's fierce anger.

27 (The Lord has said that the whole earth will become a wasteland, but that he will not completely destroy it.)

28 The earth will mourn; the sky will grow dark. The Lord has spoken and will not change his mind. He has made his decision and will not turn back.

29 At the noise of the cavalry and archers everyone will run away. Some will run to the forest; others will climb up among the rocks. Every town will be left empty, and no one will live in them again.

30 Jerusalem, you are doomed! Why do you dress in scarlet? Why do you put on jewelry and paint your eyes? You are making yourself beautiful for nothing! Your lovers have rejected you and want to kill you.

31 I heard a cry, like a woman in labor, a scream like a woman bearing her first child. It was the cry of Jerusalem gasping for breath, stretching out her hand and saying, "I am doomed! They are coming to kill me!"