1 “If you will return, O Israel,” says theLord,
# “Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
2 And you shall swear, ‘TheLordlives,’
# In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;
# The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
# And in Him they shallglory.”
3 For thus says theLordto the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
# “Break up your fallow ground,
# Anddo not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to theLord,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quenchit,
Because of the evil of your doings.”
An Imminent Invasion
5 Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
# “Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
# And say,‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6 Set up the standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
# For I will bring disaster from thenorth,
And great destruction.”
7 The lion has come up from his thicket,
# Andthe destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
# To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.
8 For this,clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of theLord
Has not turned back from us.
9 “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says theLord,
“Thatthe heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, LordGod!
# Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
# Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’
Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11 At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
# “A dry wind of the desolate heightsblowsin the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
12 A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
# NowI will also speak judgment against them.”
13 “Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
# Andhis chariots like a whirlwind.
# His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!”
14 O Jerusalem,wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
15 For a voice declaresfrom Dan
And proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim:
16 “Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
# Thatwatchers come from afar country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says theLord.
18 “Yourways and your doings
Have procured thesethingsfor you.
Thisisyour wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart.”
Sorrow for the Doomed Nation
19 O mysoul, my soul!
I am pained in my very heart!
My heart makes a noise in me;
I cannot hold my peace,
Because you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is cried,
For the whole land is plundered.
# Suddenlymy tents are plundered,
Andmy curtains in a moment.
21 How long will I see the standard,
Andhear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For My peoplearefoolish,
They have not known Me.
Theyaresilly children,
And they have no understanding.
# Theyarewise to do evil,
But to do good they have no knowledge.”
23 I beheld the earth, and indeeditwaswithout form, and void;
And the heavens, theyhadno light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I beheld, and indeedtherewasno man,
# Andall the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I beheld, and indeed the fruitful landwasawilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of theLord,
By His fierce anger.
27 For thus says theLord:
“The whole land shall be desolate;
# Yet I will not make a full end.
28 For thisshall the earth mourn,
# Andthe heavens above be black,
Because I have spoken.
# I havepurposed andwill not relent,
Nor will I turn back from it.
29 The whole city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen.
They shall go into thickets and climb up on the rocks.
Every cityshallbeforsaken,
And not a man shall dwell in it.
30 “Andwhenyouareplundered,
What will you do?
Though you clothe yourself with crimson,
Though you adornyourselfwith ornaments of gold,
# Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you will make yourself fair;
# Yourlovers will despise you;
They will seek your life.
31 “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labor,
The anguish as of her who brings forth her first child,
The voice of the daughter of Zion bewailing herself;
# Shespreads her hands,saying,
‘Woeisme now, for my soul is weary
Because of murderers!’