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¹“O Israel,” says the LORD, “if you wanted to return to me, you could. You could throw away your detestable idols and stray away no more.

²Then when you swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ you could do so with truth, justice, and righteousness. Then you would be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people would come and praise my name.”

³This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns.

⁴O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the LORD, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.

⁵“Shout to Judah, and broadcast to Jerusalem! Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land: ‘Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!’

⁶Raise a signal flag as a warning for Jerusalem : ‘Flee now! Do not delay!’ For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north.”

⁷A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. It has left its lair and is headed your way. It’s going to devastate your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, with no one living in them anymore.

⁸So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the LORD is still upon us.

⁹“In that day,” says the LORD, “the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The priests will be struck with horror, and the prophets will be appalled.”

¹⁰Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. But the sword is held at their throats!”

¹¹The time is coming when the LORD will say to the people of Jerusalem, “My dear people, a burning wind is blowing in from the desert, and it’s not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain.

¹²It is a roaring blast sent by me! Now I will pronounce your destruction!”

¹³Our enemy rushes down on us like storm clouds! His chariots are like whirlwinds. His horses are swifter than eagles. How terrible it will be, for we are doomed!

¹⁴O Jerusalem, cleanse your heart that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts?

¹⁵Your destruction has been announced from Dan and the hill country of Ephraim.

¹⁶“Warn the surrounding nations and announce this to Jerusalem: The enemy is coming from a distant land, raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah.

¹⁷They surround Jerusalem like watchmen around a field, for my people have rebelled against me,” says the LORD.

¹⁸“Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”

¹⁹My heart, my heart — I writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries.

²⁰Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed.

²¹How long must I see the battle flags and hear the trumpets of war?

²²“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the LORD. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!”

²³I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.

²⁴I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook.

²⁵I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away.

²⁶I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD’s fierce anger.

²⁷This is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.

²⁸The earth will mourn and the heavens will be draped in black because of my decree against my people. I have made up my mind and will not change it.”

²⁹At the noise of charioteers and archers, the people flee in terror. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the towns have been abandoned — not a person remains!

³⁰What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing and put on gold jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? Your primping will do you no good! The allies who were your lovers despise you and seek to kill you.

³¹I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor, the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is beautiful Jerusalem gasping for breath and crying out, “Help! I’m being murdered!”

¹“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the LORD. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.

²But even when they are under oath, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ they are still telling lies!”

³LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.

⁴Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor? They are ignorant. They don’t know the ways of the LORD. They don’t understand God’s laws.

⁵So I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they know the ways of the LORD and understand God’s laws.” But the leaders, too, as one man, had thrown off God’s yoke and broken his chains.

⁶So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many.

⁷“How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were full. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the brothels.

⁸They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.

⁹Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

¹⁰“Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy the grapevines, leaving a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vines, for these people do not belong to the LORD.

¹¹The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me,” says the LORD.

¹²“They have lied about the LORD and said, ‘He won’t bother us! No disasters will come upon us. There will be no war or famine.

¹³God’s prophets are all windbags who don’t really speak for him. Let their predictions of disaster fall on themselves!’”

¹⁴Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies says: “Because the people are talking like this, my messages will flame out of your mouth and burn the people like kindling wood.

¹⁵O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you,” says the LORD. “It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand.

¹⁶Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty.

¹⁷They will devour the food of your harvest; they will devour your sons and daughters. They will devour your flocks and herds; they will devour your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified towns, which you think are so safe.

¹⁸“Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely,” says the LORD.

¹⁹“And when your people ask, ‘Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?’ you must reply, ‘You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.’

²⁰“Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah:

²¹Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear.

²²Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.

²³But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me.

²⁴They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’

²⁵Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

²⁶“Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They continually set traps to catch people.

²⁷Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And now they are great and rich.

²⁸They are fat and sleek, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor.

²⁹Should I not punish them for this?” says the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

³⁰A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land —

³¹the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. Worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes?