A Plea to Return
“If you will return, O Israel, Jol 2:12Jer 3:22Ezk 43:9Gen 35:2Jer 25:5Jer 3:1Jer 3:121Sa 7:3
return to Me,” declares the LORD.
“If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight
and no longer waver,
and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ Isa 65:16Gen 22:18Jer 9:241Co 1:312Co 10:17Deu 10:20Gal 3:8Isa 45:25
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then the nations will be blessed by Him,
and in Him they will glory.”
For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Hos 10:12Luk 8:14Luk 8:7Gal 6:7-8Mat 13:7Mrk 4:18-19Mat 13:22Mrk 4:7
“Break up your unplowed ground,
and do not sow among the thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, Deu 10:16Col 2:11Deu 30:6Rom 2:28-29Jer 9:26Jer 21:12Amo 5:6Ezk 20:33
and remove the foreskins of your hearts,
O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it,
because of your evil deeds.”
Disaster from the North
Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Jer 8:14Jer 6:1Jos 10:20Hos 8:1Amo 3:6Amo 3:8Ezk 33:2-6Jer 11:2
“Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble yourselves
and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Jer 1:13-15Jer 50:2Jer 51:27Jer 4:21Jer 51:12Jer 6:1Jer 6:22Isa 62:10
Seek refuge! Do not delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
and terrible destruction.
A lion has gone up from his thicket, Ezk 26:7-10Isa 1:7Isa 6:11Jer 2:15Jer 5:6Dan 7:4Jer 25:9Jer 50:17
and a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to lay waste your land.
Your cities will be reduced to ruins
and lie uninhabited.
So put on sackcloth, Isa 22:12Jer 6:26Isa 10:4Isa 32:11Isa 5:25Amo 8:10Ezk 21:12Ezk 30:2
mourn and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
has not turned away from us.”
“In that day,” declares the LORD, Ezk 13:9-16Isa 22:3-5Isa 29:9-101Sa 25:37-382Ki 25:4Act 13:41Isa 19:11-12Isa 19:16
“the king and officials will lose their courage.
The priests will tremble in fear,
and the prophets will be astounded.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.” 2Th 2:9-12Jer 5:12Isa 37:35Jer 14:13-141Ki 22:20-23Exo 9:14Ezk 11:13Ezk 14:9-10
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift; Ezk 17:10Hos 13:15Ezk 19:12Hos 13:3Isa 22:4Isa 27:8Isa 41:16Isa 64:6 a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.” Jer 1:16Ezk 5:8Ezk 6:11-13Ezk 7:8-9
Behold, he advances like the clouds, Isa 19:1Isa 66:15Hab 1:8Isa 5:28Lam 4:19Deu 28:49Isa 13:5Nam 1:3
his chariots like the whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are ruined!
Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, Jas 4:8Isa 55:7Act 8:22Luk 11:39Rom 1:211Co 3:20Isa 1:16-19Jer 13:27
so that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
wicked thoughts within you?
For a voice resounds from Dan, Jer 8:16Jdg 18:29Jdg 20:1Jer 6:1Jos 17:15Jos 20:7
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
Warn the nations now! Ezk 21:22Jer 5:15Isa 39:3Deu 28:49-52Isa 34:1Jer 16:6Jer 2:15Jer 31:10
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
“A besieging army comes from a distant land;
they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
They surround her like men guarding a field, Jer 5:232Ki 25:1-4Dan 9:7-19Ezk 2:3-7Isa 1:20-23Isa 1:8Isa 30:9Jer 6:2-3
because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
“Your ways and deeds Jer 2:19Psa 107:17Isa 50:1Jer 2:17Pro 1:31Jer 6:19Jer 26:19Jer 5:19
have brought this upon you.
This is your punishment; how bitter it is,
because it pierces to the heart!”
Lamentation for Judah
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Hab 3:16Isa 16:11Isa 22:4Isa 21:3Jer 9:1Jer 9:10Dan 7:15Dan 8:27
Oh, the pain in my chest!
My heart pounds within me;
I cannot be silent.
For I have heard the sound of the horn,
the alarm of battle.
Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, Psa 42:72Th 1:9Ezk 7:25-26Jol 1:15Mat 10:28Exo 33:5Ezk 14:21Isa 13:6
for the whole land is laid waste.
My tents are destroyed in an instant,
my curtains in a moment.
How long must I see the signal flag 2Ch 35:252Ch 36:102Ch 36:172Ch 36:32Ch 36:6-7Jer 4:5-6Jer 6:1Jer 4:19
and hear the sound of the horn?
“For My people are fools; 1Co 14:20Rom 16:19Jer 5:21Hos 4:6Rom 3:11Rom 1:22Hos 5:4Jhn 16:3
they have not known Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but they know not how to do good.”
I looked at the earth, Mat 24:29Mrk 13:24-25Isa 13:10Jol 3:15-16Gen 1:2Luk 21:25-26Ezk 32:7-8Amo 8:9
and it was formless and void;
I looked to the heavens,
and they had no light.
I looked at the mountains, Ezk 38:20Isa 5:25Jer 10:10Nam 1:5-61Ki 19:11Jdg 5:4-5Mic 1:4Psa 114:4-7
and behold, they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
I looked, and no man was left; Zep 1:2-3Jer 12:4Hos 4:3Jer 9:10
all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. Psa 107:34Deu 29:23-28Isa 5:9-10Isa 7:20-25Jer 12:4Jer 14:2-6Mic 3:12Psa 76:7
All its cities were torn down
before the LORD,
before His fierce anger.
For this is what the LORD says: Jer 46:28Jer 5:10Jer 5:18Jer 30:11Ezk 11:13Lev 26:44Rom 11:1-7Rom 9:27-29
“The whole land will be desolate,
but I will not finish its destruction.
Therefore the earth will mourn Num 23:19Hos 4:3Isa 50:3Jer 12:4Isa 5:30Jol 2:30-311Sa 15:29Eph 1:11
and the heavens above will grow dark.
I have spoken, I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back.”
Every city flees Isa 2:19-21Jer 4:71Sa 13:62Ch 33:112Ki 25:4-7Amo 9:1Isa 30:17Jer 39:4-6
at the sound of the horseman and archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
And you, O devastated one, what will you do, 2Ki 9:30Lam 1:19Lam 1:2Ezk 16:36-41Ezk 23:9-10Isa 10:3Ezk 23:22-24Ezk 28:13
though you dress yourself in scarlet,
though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
though you enlarge your eyes with paint?
You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you;
they want to take your life.
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, Isa 1:15Lam 1:17Jer 13:211Co 9:161Th 5:3Ezk 23:46-47Ezk 9:5-6Gen 27:46
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—
the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands to say,
“Woe is me,
for my soul faints before the murderers!”