A Plea to Return 1 AKJV If you will return, O Israel, says the LORD, return to me: and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight, then shall you not remove. BSB BSB: “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,
2 AKJV And you shall swear, The LORD lives, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. BSB BSB: and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by Him, and in Him they will glory.”
3 AKJV For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground, and do not sow among the thorns.
4 AKJV Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. BSB BSB: Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, 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 5 AKJV Declare you in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow you the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defended cities. BSB BSB: Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
6 AKJV Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. BSB BSB: Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.
7 AKJV The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. BSB BSB: A lion has gone up from his thicket, 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.
8 AKJV For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. BSB BSB: So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
9 AKJV And it shall come to pass at that day, says the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. BSB BSB: “In that day,” declares the LORD, “the king and officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be astounded.”
10 AKJV Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You shall have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the soul. BSB BSB: 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.”
11 AKJV At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, BSB BSB: 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;
12 AKJV Even a full wind from those places shall come to me: now also will I give sentence against them. BSB BSB: a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”
13 AKJV Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are spoiled. BSB BSB: Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 AKJV O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your vain thoughts lodge within you? BSB BSB: Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
15 AKJV For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes affliction from mount Ephraim. BSB BSB: For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16 AKJV Make you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. BSB BSB: Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: “A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 AKJV As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she has been rebellious against me, says the LORD. BSB BSB: They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
18 AKJV Your way and your doings have procured these things to you; this is your wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reaches to your heart. BSB BSB: “Your ways and deeds have brought this upon you. This is your punishment; how bitter it is, because it pierces to the heart!”
Lamentation for Judah 19 AKJV My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at 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. BSB BSB: My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! 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.
20 AKJV Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. BSB BSB: Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.
21 AKJV How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? BSB BSB: How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?
22 AKJV For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are silly children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. BSB BSB: “For My people are fools; 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.”
23 AKJV I beheld the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. BSB BSB: I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 AKJV I beheld the mountains, and, see, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. BSB BSB: I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
25 AKJV I beheld, and, see, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. BSB BSB: I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.
26 AKJV I beheld, and, see, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. BSB BSB: I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert. All its cities were torn down before the LORD, before His fierce anger.
27 AKJV For thus has the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
28 AKJV For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. BSB BSB: Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
29 AKJV The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. BSB BSB: Every city flees 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.
30 AKJV And when you are spoiled, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with crimson, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you rend your face with painting, in vain shall you make yourself fair; your lovers will despise you, they will seek your life. BSB BSB: And you, O devastated one, what will you do, 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.
31 AKJV For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that mourns herself, that spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. BSB BSB: For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, 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!”
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