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Unfaithful Israel (continued)
4:1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD,
return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations
out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.
4:2 And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in
judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless
themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
4:3 For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and
Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among
thorns.
4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the
foreskins of your heart, ye 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.
Disaster From the North
4:5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say,
Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and
say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced
cities.
4:6 Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for
I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
4:7 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 thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be
laid waste, without an inhabitant.
4:8 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for
the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
4:9 And it shall come to pass at that day, saith 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.
4:10 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly
deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have
peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
4:11 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,
4:12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me:
now also will I give sentence against them.
4:13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots
shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
4:14 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that
thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge
within thee?
4:15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth
affliction from mount Ephraim.
4:16 Make ye 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.
4:17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round
about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith
the LORD.
4:18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto
thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because
it reacheth unto thine heart.
4:19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my
heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because
thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the
alarm of war.
4:20 Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole
land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my
curtains in a moment.
4:21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound
of the trumpet?
4:22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they
are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they
are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
4:23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and
void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
4:24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and
all the hills moved lightly.
4:25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds
of the heavens were fled.
4:26 I beheld, and, lo, 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.
4:27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be
desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
4:28 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.
4:29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the
horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb
up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a
man dwell therein.
4:30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though
thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee
with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with
painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers
will despise thee, they will seek thy life.
4:31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and
the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself,
that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul
is wearied because of murderers. |
Cults 
Why Did God Permit Sin?
