Jeremiah 4 - Easy To Read Version

¹ This message is from the Lord.\par “Israel, if you want to come back,\par then come back to me.\par Throw away your idols.\par Don’t wander away from me.\par

² If you do those things,\par then you will be able to use my name\par to make a promise:\par You will be able to say,\par ‘As the Lord lives.’\par And you will be able to use those words\par in a truthful, honest, and right way.\par If you do these things, then the nations\par will be blessed by the Lord.\par They will brag about the things\par that the Lord has done.”\par

³ This is what the Lord says to the man of Judah and to Jerusalem:

⁴ Become the Lord’s people.\par Change your hearts! {\cf2\super [20]} \par Men of Judah and people of Jerusalem,\par if you don’t change,\par then I will become very angry.\par My anger will spread fast like a fire,\par and my anger will burn you up.\par And no person will be able to put out that fire.\par Why will this happen?\par Because of the evil things you have done.”\par

⁵ “Give this message to the people of Judah:

⁶ Raise the signal flag toward Zion. {\cf2\super [21]} \par Run for your lives!\par Don’t wait!\par Do this because I am bringing disaster from the north. {\cf2\super [22]} \par I am bringing terrible destruction.”\par

⁷ A lion has come out of his cave.\par A destroyer of nations has begun to march.\par He has left his home\par to destroy your land.\par Your towns will be destroyed.\par There will be no people left to live in them.\par

⁸ So put on sackcloth {\cf2\super [23]} and cry out loud!\par Why? Because the Lord is angry at us.”\par

⁹ The Lord says,\par “At the time this happens,\par the king and his officers\par will lose their courage,\par the priests will be scared,\par the prophets will be shocked.”\par

¹⁰ Then I, Jeremiah, said, “Lord my Master, you have really tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said to them, ‘You will have peace.’ But now the sword is pointing at their throats!”

¹¹ At that time a message will be given\par to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:\par “A hot wind blows from the bare hills.\par It comes from the desert to my people.\par It is not like the gentle wind that farmers use\par to separate the grain from the chaff. {\cf2\super [24]} \par

¹² It is a stronger wind than that,\par and it comes from me.\par Now, I will announce my judgment against the people of Judah.”\par

¹³ Look! The enemy rises up like a cloud.\par His chariots {\cf2\super [25]} look like a wind storm.\par His horses are faster than eagles.\par It will be very bad for us!\par We are ruined!\par

¹⁴ People of Jerusalem, wash the evil\par from your hearts.\par Make your hearts pure so you can be saved.\par Don’t continue making evil plans.\par

¹⁵ Listen! The voice of a messenger\par from the land of Dan {\cf2\super [26]} is speaking.\par A person is bringing bad news\par from the hill country of Ephraim. {\cf2\super [27]} \par

¹⁶ “Report it to this nation. {\cf2\super [28]} \par Spread the news to the people in Jerusalem.\par Enemies are coming from a faraway country.\par Those enemies are shouting words of war\par against the cities of Judah.\par

¹⁷ The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem\par like men guarding a field.\par Judah, you turned against me!\par So the enemy is coming against you!”\par This message is from the Lord.\par

¹⁸ “The way you lived and the things you did\par brought this trouble to you.\par It is your evil that made your life so hard.\par Your evil life brought the pain\par that hurts deep in your heart.”\par

¹⁹ Oh, my sadness and worry is making\par my stomach hurt.\par I am bent over in pain.\par Oh, I am so scared.\par My heart is pounding inside me.\par I can’t keep quiet. Why?\par Because I have heard the trumpet blow.\par The trumpet is calling the army to war!\par

²⁰ Disaster follows disaster!\par The whole country is destroyed!\par Suddenly my tents are destroyed!\par My curtains are torn down!\par

²¹ Lord, how long must I see the war flags?\par How long must I hear the war trumpets?\par

²² \{God said,\} “My people are foolish.\par They don’t know me.\par They are stupid children.\par They don’t understand.\par They are skillful at doing evil,\par but they don’t know how to do good.”\par

²³ I looked at the earth.\par The earth was empty;\par nothing was on the earth.\par I looked at the sky.\par and its light was gone. {\cf2\super [29]} \par

²⁴ I looked at the mountains,\par and they were shaking.\par All of the hills were trembling.\par

²⁵ I looked, but there were no people.\par All the birds of the sky had flown away.\par

²⁶ I looked, and the good land\par had become a desert.\par All the cities in that land were destroyed.\par The Lord caused this.\par The Lord and his great anger caused this.\par

²⁷ The Lord says these things:\par “The whole country will be ruined.\par (But I will not completely destroy the land.)\par

²⁸ So the people in the land will cry\par for the dead people.\par The sky will grow dark.\par I have spoken and will not change.\par I have made a decision\par and I will not change my mind.”\par

²⁹ The people of Judah will hear the sound\par of the horse soldiers and the archers, {\cf2\super [30]} \par and the people will run away!\par Some of the people will hide in caves, {\cf2\super [31]} \par some people will hide in the bushes,\par some people will climb up into the rocks.\par All of the cities of Judah will be empty.\par No person will live in them.\par

³⁰ Judah, you have been destroyed.\par So what are you doing now?\par Why are you putting on your best red dress?\par Why are you putting on your gold jewelry?\par Why are you putting on your eye makeup?\par You make yourself beautiful,\par but it is a waste of time.\par Your lovers hate you.\par They are trying to kill you.\par

³¹ I hear a cry like a woman having a baby.\par It is a scream like a woman\par that is having her first baby.\par It is the cry of the Daughter of Zion. {\cf2\super [32]} \par She is lifting her hands in prayer, saying,\par “Oh! I am about to faint!\par Murderers are all around me!”\par