Scriptures

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jeremiah 4
¹⁸ “Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is bitter, piercing you to the heart!”
¹⁹ My 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.
²⁰ Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly my tents are destroyed; in a moment my shelters are crushed.
²¹ How 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!”
²³ I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.
²⁴ I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook.
²⁵ I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away.
²⁶ I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD’s fierce anger.
²⁷ This is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.
²⁸ The 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.”