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. And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness;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 hearts,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 doings.”
5. Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:“Blow the trumpet in the land;Cry, ‘Gather together,’And say, ‘Assemble yourselves,And let us go into the fortified cities.’
6. Set up the standard toward Zion.Take refuge! Do not delay!For I will bring disaster from the north,And great destruction.”
7. The lion has come up from his thicket,And the destroyer of nations is on his way.He has gone forth from his placeTo make your land desolate.Your cities will be laid waste,Without inhabitant.
8. For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth,Lament and wail.For the fierce anger of the LordHas not turned back from us.
9. “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,“That the heart of the king shall perish,And the heart of the princes;The priests shall be astonished,And the prophets shall wonder.”
10. Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’Whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11. At that time it will be saidTo this people and to Jerusalem,“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wildernessToward the daughter of My people—Not to fan or to cleanse—
12. A wind too strong for these will come for Me;Now I will also speak judgment against them.”