1 ARST Yahweh says,“You Israelite people, if you come back to anyone, it should be to me. If you get rid of those detestable idols, if you do not go away from me again, 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 ARST and if you declare,‘Just as surely as Yahweh lives,’ when you take your oaths, and if you are truthful, just, and righteous, then the people in the other nations of the world will ask me to bless them as I have blessed you, and they will all come and honor me.” 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 ARST This is what Yahweh says to the people of Jerusalem and the other cities in Judah,“Cause your inner beings to be ready to receive my messages like farmers plow up hard ground in order that they can plant seed in it. Just as farmers do not waste good seed by sowing seeds among thorny plants, I do not want to waste my time telling you messages that you are not ready to receive. 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 ARST Show that your inner beings and your minds are devoted to me. If you do not do that, my being angry with you because of all the sins that you have committed will be like a fire that will be impossible to extinguish. 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.”
5 ARST Declare this to all the people in Jerusalem and the rest of Judea; blow the trumpets everywhere in the land to warn the people. Tell them that they should flee to the cities that have high walls around them. 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 ARST Shout to the people of Jerusalem and run away now. Do not delay, because I am about to bring a terrible disaster upon you that will come from the north. 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 ARST An army that has destroyed many nations will attack you like a lion that comes out of its den to attack other animals. The soldiers of that army are already marching toward your land. They will destroy your cities and leave them without any people still living in them. 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 ARST So, put on rough clothes and weep and beat your breasts to show that you are very sorry for what you have done, because Yahweh is still very angry with us. BSB BSB: So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
9 ARST Yahweh declares that at the time when Yahweh punishes you, the king of Judah and all his officials will be very afraid. The priests and the prophets will be terrified.” 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 ARST Then I replied,“Yahweh my God, you completely deceived the people by telling them that there would be peace in Jerusalem, but now our enemies are ready to slaughter us with their swords!” 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 ARST When that happens, Yahweh will say to the people of Jerusalem,“A huge army will come to attack you. They will not be like a gentle breeze that separates the wheat from the chaff. They will be like a very hot wind that blows in from the desert. 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 ARST They will be like a strong blast that I will send. Now I am declaring that I will punish you.” BSB BSB: a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”
13 ARST And the people in Jerusalem will say,“Our enemies are about to rush down on us; their chariots are like whirlwinds. Their horses are faster than eagles. It will be terrible for us! 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 ARST You people of Jerusalem cleanse your inner beings, in order that Yahweh will rescue you. How long will you continue to think about doing evil deeds? 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 ARST From the city of Dan in the far north to the hills of Ephraim a few miles north of Jerusalem messengers are proclaiming that disasters are coming.” BSB BSB: For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16 ARST So I said this to the people in other nations, and also announced it in Jerusalem,“Yahweh says that an army is coming to Jerusalem from far away; they will shout a battle cry 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 ARST They will set up tents around Jerusalem like people set up temporary shelters around a field at harvest time. That will happen because the people of Judah have rebelled against me. BSB BSB: They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.
18 ARST You will be punished very severely; it will be as though a sword has stabbed your hearts. But you are causing those things to happen to you because of the evil things that you have done.” 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!”
19 ARST Then I said to myself,“I am extremely anguished; the pain in my inner being is very severe. My heart beats wildly! But I cannot remain silent because I have heard our enemies blowing their trumpets to announce that the battle against Judah will start immediately! 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 ARST Disasters will occur one after another until the whole land is ruined. Suddenly all our tents will be destroyed; even the curtains inside the tents will be ripped apart. 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 ARST How long will this battle continue? How long will I continue to see the enemy battle flags and hear the sound of their trumpets being blown? BSB BSB: How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?
22 ARST Yahweh says: My people are very foolish! They do not have a relationship with me. They are like stupid children who do not understand anything. They very cleverly do what is wrong, but they do not know how to do what is good. 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 ARST God gave me a vision in which I saw that the earth was barren and without form. I looked at the sky, and there was no light there. BSB BSB: I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 ARST I looked at the mountains and hills, and they shook and moved from side to side. BSB BSB: I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
25 ARST I looked and saw that all there were no more people and all the birds had flown away. BSB BSB: I looked, and no man was left; all the birds of the air had fled.
26 ARST I looked and saw that the fields that previously were fertile had become a desert. The cities were all ruined; they had all been destroyed by Yahweh because he was extremely angry.” 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 ARST This is what Yahweh is saying,“the entire land of Judah will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely. BSB BSB: For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
28 ARST I will do to my people what I said that I would do, and I will not change my mind. So when that happens, it will be as though the earth will mourn and the sky will become very dark. 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 ARST When the people hear the sound of the enemy cavalry and archers marching, they will be terrified as they flee from their cities. Some of them will find places to hide in the bushes, and others will run toward the quarries to escape being killed by their enemies. All the cities in Judah will be abandoned; not one person will remain in them. 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 ARST So you who will surely be destroyed, what will you do then? Even though you have worn beautiful clothes and jewelry and paint around your eyes, those things will not help you, because the people in other countries that you think love you really despise you, and they will try to kill you. 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 ARST It is as though I already hear the people in Jerusalem crying very loudly, as a woman cries when she is giving birth to her first child; she gasps for breath and pleads for someone to help her, and she shouts,‘Something terrible is happening to me; they are about to murder me!’” 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!”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.