A Plea to Return

1“If you would return, O Israel,

a declaration of YHWH, to Me you must return!”

And if you will put away your abominations from My sight,

and no longer waver,

2and you swear, ‘As YHWH’ lives,

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then the nations shall bless themselves in Him,

and in Him they shall glory.”

3For thus says YHWH to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Break up for yourself the unplowed ground,

and do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to YHWH,

and turn aside the foreskins of your⁺ heart,

O men of Judah and dwellers of Jerusalem,

lest My fury should go forth like the fire and burn—

with no one to extinguish it—

from the face of the evil of your⁺ deeds!”

Disaster from the North

5Declare in Judah and in Jerusalem! Proclaim and say,

“Blow the shofar in the land;

call out, gather together, and say:

‘Assemble,

and let us go into the fortified cities!’

6Lift up the standard toward Zion!

Seek refuge; do not delay!

For I am bringing disaster from the north,

and great destruction.

7A lion has come up from his thicket,

and a destroyer of nations has set out!

He has gone forth from his place

to make your land into a desolation;

your cities will be in ruins,

without inhabitant.

8Upon thus gird yourselves with sackcloth;

lament and wail!

For the burning of the anger of YHWH

has not turned back from us.”

9“And it will come to pass in that day,” a declaration of YHWH,

“That the heart of the king will perish,

and the heart of the princes and shall be devastated;

the priests and the prophets will be astounded.”

10And I said, “Ah, my Lord YHWH! Truly You have greatly decieved this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘There shall be peace for You⁺,’ and the sword reaches as far as the soul.

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: “A dry wind from the barren heights of the wilderness is toward the way of the daughter of My people, not to winnow and not to cleanse— 12a wind more full than these will come to Me! Even now I speak judgments against them.”

13Behold, like clouds he shall come up,

and his chariots like a whirlwind;

his horses are swifter than eagles!

Woe to us, for we are ruined!

14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall wicked thoughts

lodge within you?

15For a voice declares from Dan

and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim.

16Make mention to the nations—

behold, proclaim over Jerusalem:

“Besiegers are coming from a land far away,

and they will raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

17Like those guarding a field, they will be against her all around,

because she has rebelled against Me!”

A declaration of YHWH.

18“Your way and your deeds

have made these things for you.

This is your evil—how bitter it is,

how it reaches as far as your heart!”

Lamentation for Judah

19My bowels, my bowels, I writhe in pain,

in the walls heart!

My heart is roaring within me,

I cannot keep silent,

for my soul does hear the voice of the shofar,

the shout of war.

20Destruction upon destruction is called out;

for all the land is brought to ruin!

Suddenly my tents are left in ruins,

and my curtains in a moment.

21How long will I see the standard,

and hear the voice of the shofar?

22“For My people are foolish—

they have not known Me!

They are foolish children,

and they have no understanding!

They are wise to do evil,

and to do good they do not know.

23I looked upon the earth, and behold—

it was formless and void;

and to the heavens,

and there was no light in them.

24I looked upon the mountains, and behold—

they began shaking,

and all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and behold—there was no man,

and all the birds of the heavens had fled.

26I looked, and behold—the fertile land was a desert,

and all its cities were torn down,

before YHWH,

before the face of the fury of his nose!

27For thus says YHWH:

“All the land will be a desolation;

and I will not make a full end.

28For the earth will mourn,

and the heavens above will grow dark;

for I have spoken, I have planned,

and I will not repent, and I will not turn back from it.”

29From the voice of the horsemen and the bowman

every city is fleeing!

They will go into thickets,

and go up into the rocks;

every city is forsaken,

and there is not a man dwelling in them.

30And you, O devastated one, what are you doing,

that you clothe yourself with crimson,

that you adorn with ornaments of gold,

that you tear open your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself;

for you have rejected the ones lusting;

they seek your life!

31For I have heard a voice like a woman in labor,

distress like one bearing her first child—

the voice of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath;

she spreads out her hands:

“Woe now to me!

For my soul has grown faint before those killing.”