JEREMIAH 4:19-31

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Anguish over Judah’s Desolation

19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

20 Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment.

21 How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?





22 “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”





23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled.

26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord , before his fierce anger.





27 For thus says the Lord , “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.





28 “For this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above be dark; for I have spoken; I have purposed; I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”





29 At the noise of horseman and archer every city takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the cities are forsaken, and no man dwells in them.

30 And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in scarlet, that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.

31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, “Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

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