1If 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.
2And 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.
3For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
4Circumcise 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.
5Declare 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.
6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
7The 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.
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.
9And 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.
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).
11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem,
12Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me:
13Behold, he shall come up as clouds,
14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
15For a voice declareth from Dan,
16Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem,
17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about;
18Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee;
19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart;
20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled:
21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For my people is foolish, they have not known me;
23I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void;
24I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled,
25I beheld, and lo, there was no man,
26I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness,
27For thus hath the Lord said,
28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:
29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen;
30And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child,