Jeremiah 4
1 If you will come back, O Israel, says the Lord, you will come back to me: and if you will put away your disgusting ways, you will not be sent away from before me.
If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, unto me must thou return; and if thou wilt put away thy abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not wander about [any more].
2 And you will take your oath, By the living Lord, in good faith and wisdom and righteousness; and the nations will make use of you as a blessing, and in you will they take a pride.
And if thou wilt swear, As the Lord liveth, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness: then shall nations bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glorify themselves.
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Get your unworked land ploughed up, do not put in your seeds among thorns.
For thus hath said the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Plough up your fallow ground, that ye may not sow among thorns.
4 Undergo a circumcision of the heart, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem: or my wrath may come out like fire, burning so that no one is able to put it out, because of the evil of your doings.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and remove the obduracy of your heart, O ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5 Say openly in Judah, give it out in Jerusalem, and say, Let the horn be sounded in the land: crying out in a loud voice, Come together, and let us go into the walled towns.
Tell ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say, Blow ye the cornet in the land: call out, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
6 Put up a flag for a sign to Zion: go in flight so that you may be safe, waiting no longer: for I will send evil from the north, and a great destruction.
Set up the standard toward Zion; save yourselves by flight, stay not; for evil do I bring from the north, and a great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his secret place in the woods, and one who makes waste the nations is on his way; he has gone out from his place, to make your land unpeopled, so that your towns will be made waste, with no man living in them.
The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of nations hath commenced his march, he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, left without an inhabitant.
8 For this put on haircloth, with weeping and loud crying: for the burning wrath of the Lord is not turned back from us.
For this gird yourselves with sackcloths, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.
9 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord, that the heart of the king will be dead in him, and the hearts of the rulers; and the priests will be overcome with fear, and the prophets with wonder.
And it shall come to pass on that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king and the heart of the princes shall fail; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.
10 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! your words were not true when you said to this people and to Jerusalem, You will have peace; when the sword has come even to the soul.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Eternal! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind from the open hilltops in the waste land is blowing on the daughter of my people, not for separating or cleaning the grain;
At that time shall be announced to this people and to Jerusalem a dry wind from the mountain-peaks in the wilderness, [coming] on the road to the daughter of my people; not to winnow, nor to cleanse [the corn],
12 A full wind will come for me: and now I will give my decision against them.
A strong wind from these places shall come unto me: now also will I myself pronounce judgment against them.
13 See, he will come up like the clouds, and his war-carriages like the storm-wind: his horses are quicker than eagles. Sorrow is ours, for destruction has come on us.
Behold, like clouds shall he come up, and like a whirlwind shall be his chariots: swifter than eagles are his horses. “Woe unto us! for we are wasted.”
14 O Jerusalem, make your heart clean from evil, so that you may have salvation. How long are evil purposes to have a resting-place in you?
Wash from wrong doing thy heart, O Jerusalem, in order that thou mayest be saved. How long wilt thou let lodge within thee the thoughts of thy wickedness?
15 For a voice is sounding from Dan, giving out evil from the hills of Ephraim:
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth unhappiness from the mountain of Ephraim.
16 Make this come to the minds of the nations, make a statement openly against Jerusalem, that attackers are coming from a far country and their voices will be loud against the towns of Judah.
Make ye mention of it to the nations; behold, let it be heard against Jerusalem, that beleaguerers come from a far-off country, and send forth their voice against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field they are against her on every side; because she has been fighting against me, says the Lord.
As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because against me hath she been rebellious, saith the Lord.
18 Your ways and your doings have made these things come on you; this is your sin; truly it is bitter, going deep into your heart.
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee: this is thy wickedness, which is so bitter, which so reacheth unto thy heart.
19 My soul, my soul! I am pained to my inmost heart; my heart is troubled in me; I am not able to be quiet, because the sound of the horn, the note of war, has come to my ears.
My bowels, my bowels! I am shaken, at the very chambers of my heart; my heart beateth tumultuously in me; I cannot remain silent; because the sound of the cornet hast thou heard, O my soul, the alarm of war.
20 News is given of destruction on destruction; all the land is made waste: suddenly my tents, straight away my curtains, are made waste.
Ruin upon ruin is called out; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents wasted, and in a moment, my curtains.
21 How long will I go on seeing the flag and hearing the sound of the war-horn?
How long shall I see the standard, hear the sound of the cornet?
22 For my people are foolish, they have no knowledge of me; they are evil-minded children, without sense, all of them: they are wise in evil-doing, but have no knowledge of doing good.
“Because my people is foolish, me have they not known; sottish children are they, and they have not any understanding: wise are they to do evil, but how to do good they do not know.”
23 Looking at the earth, I saw that it was waste and without form; and to the heavens, that they had no light.
I look at the earth, and, lo, it is without form and void; and toward the heavens, and their light is gone.
24 Looking at the mountains, I saw them shaking, and all the hills were moved about.
I look at the mountains, and, lo, they tremble, and all the hills are moved.
25 Looking, I saw that there was no man, and all the birds of heaven had gone in flight.
I look, and, lo, there is no man, and all the birds of the heavens are fled.
26 Looking, I saw that the fertile field was a waste, and all its towns were broken down before the Lord and before his burning wrath.
I look, and, lo, the fruitful country is a wilderness, and all its cities are laid waste at the presence of the Lord, because of the fierceness of his anger.
27 For this is what the Lord has said: All the land will become a waste; I will make destruction complete.
For thus hath said the Lord, Desolate shall be the whole land; yet a full end will I not make.
28 The earth will be weeping for this, and the heavens on high will be black: because I have said it, and I will not go back from it; it is my purpose, and it will not be changed.
For this shall mourn the earth, and black shall be the heavens above; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I will not repent, and I will not turn back from it.
29 All the land is in flight because of the noise of the horsemen and the bowmen; they have taken cover in the woodland and up on the rocks: every town has been given up, not a man is living in them.
From the noise of horsemen and those that shoot with the bow fleeth the whole city; they go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.
30 And you, when you are made waste, what will you do? Though you are clothed in red, though you make yourself beautiful with ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes wide with paint, it is for nothing that you make yourself fair; your lovers have no more desire for you, they have designs on your life.
And thou, O wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with scarlet, though thou adorn thyself with ornaments of gold, though thou encircle with paint thy eyes: in vain shalt thou make thyself beautiful; the adulterers will despise thee, thy life will they seek.
31 A voice has come to my ears like the voice of a woman in birth-pains, the pain of one giving birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, fighting for breath, stretching out her hands, saying, Now sorrow is mine! for my strength is gone from me before the takers of life.
For a voice as of a woman in travail have I heard, the anguish as of one that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that groaneth, that spreadeth out her hands, [saying, ] “Woe is me now! for my soul succumbeth to the murderers.”
