1. If you will return, O Israel,says the Lord,return to Me.And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,then you shall not be moved.
2. You shall swear, “As the Lord lives,”in truth, in justice, and in righteousness;then the nations shall bless themselves in Him,and in Him they shall glory.
3. For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up your fallow ground,and do not sow among thorns.
4. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,and take away the foreskins of your heart,you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,lest My fury come forth like fire,and burn so that no one can quench it,because of the evil of your deeds.
5. Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem, and say:Blow the trumpet in the land.Cry aloud and say,“Assemble yourselves,and let us go into the fortified cities.”
6. Set up the standard toward Zion.Seek refuge, do not delay.For I will bring disaster from the north,and a great destruction.
7. The lion has come up from his thicket,and the destroyer of the nations is on his way.He has gone forth from his placeto make your land desolate.And your cities shall be laid wastewithout an inhabitant.
8. For this gird yourself with sackcloth,lament and howl.For the fierce anger of the Lordis not turned back from us.