Jeremias 4

1 If Israel will return to me, says the Lord, he shall return: and if he will remove his abominations out of his mouth, and fear before me, and swear,

“If you will return, Israel,” says the LORD, “if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you will not be removed;

2 The Lord lives, with truth, in judgement and righteousness, then shall nations bless by him, and by him they shall praise God in Jerusalem.

and you will swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations will bless themselves in him, and they will glory in him.”

3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Break up fresh ground for yourselves, and sow not amongst thorns.

For the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, and don’t sow amongst thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise your hardness of heart, you men of Juda, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my wrath go forth as fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the evil of your devices.

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Declare you in Juda, and let it be heard in Jerusalem: say you, Sound the trumpet in the land; cry you aloud: say you, Gather yourselves together, and let us enter into the fortified cities.

Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, ‘Blow the shofar in the land!’ Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves! Let’s go into the fortified cities!’

6 Gather up [your wares] and flee to Sion: hasten, stay not: for I will bring evils from the north, and great destruction.

Set up a standard towards Zion. Flee for safety! Don’t wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.”

7 The lion is gone up from his lair, he has roused [himself] to the destruction of the nations, and has gone forth out of his place, to make the land desolate; and the cities shall be destroyed, so as to be without inhabitant.

A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations. He is on his way. He has gone out from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

8 For these things gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, and howl: for the anger of the Lord is not turned away from you.

For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the LORD hasn’t 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; and the priests shall be amazed, and the prophets shall wonder.

“It will happen at that day,” says the LORD, “that the heart of the king will perish, along with the heart of the princes. The priests will be astonished, and the prophets will wonder.”

10 And I said, O sovereign Lord, verily you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, There shall be peace; whereas behold, the sword has reached even to their soul.

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘You will have peace;’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”

11 At that time they shall say to this people and to Jerusalem, [There is] a spirit of error in the wilderness: the way of the daughter of my people is not to purity, nor to holiness.

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind blows from the bare heights in the wilderness towards the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse.

12 [But] a spirit of full vengeance shall come upon me; and now I declare my judgements against them.

A full wind from these will come for me. Now I will also utter judgements against them.”

13 Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! for we are in misery.

Behold, he will come up as clouds, and his chariots will be as the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.

14 Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long will your grievous thoughts be within you?

Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you?

15 For a voice of one publishing from Dan shall come, and trouble out of mount Ephraim shall be heard of.

For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim:

16 Remind you the nations; behold, they are come: proclaim [it] in Jerusalem, that bands are approaching from a land afar off, and have uttered their voice against the cities of Juda.

“Tell the nations, behold, publish against Jerusalem, ‘Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

17 As keepers of a field, they have surrounded her; because you, says the Lord, has neglected me.

As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,’” says the LORD.

18 Your ways and your devices have brought these things upon you; this is your wickedness, for [it is] bitter, for it has reached to your heart.

“Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness, for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”

19 I am pained in my bowels, my bowels, and the sensitive powers of my heart; my soul is in great commotion, my heart is torn: I will not be silent, for my soul has heard the sound of a trumpet, the cry of war, and of distress: it calls on destruction;

My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart! My heart trembles within me. I can’t hold my peace, because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the shofar, the alarm of war.

20 for all the land is distressed: suddenly [my] tabernacle is distressed, my curtains have been tore asunder.

Destruction on destruction is decreed, for the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, and my curtains gone in a moment.

21 How long shall I see fugitives, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

How long will I see the standard and hear the sound of the shofar?

22 For the princes of my people have not known me, they are foolish and unwise children: they are wise to do evil, but [how] to do good they have not known.

“For my people are foolish. They don’t know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skilful in doing evil, but they don’t know how to do good.”

23 I looked upon the earth, and, behold, [it was] not; and to the sky, an there was no light in it.

I saw the earth and, behold, it was waste and void, and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I saw the mountains, and they trembled, and [I saw] all the hills in commotion.

I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.

25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were scared.

I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled.

26 I saw, and, behold, Carmel was desert, and all the cities were burnt with fire at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of his fierce anger they were utterly destroyed.

I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of the LORD, before his fierce anger.

27 Thus says the Lord, The whole land shall be desolate; but I will not make a full end.

For the LORD says, “The whole land will be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

28 For these things let the earth mourn, and let the sky be dark above: for I have spoken, and I will not repent; I have purposed, and I will not turn back from it.

For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black, because I have spoken it. I have planned it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.”

29 The whole land has recoiled from the noise of the horseman and the bent bow; they have gone into the caves, and have hidden themselves in the groves, and have gone up upon the rocks: every city was abandoned, no man lived in them.

Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers. They go into the thickets and climb up on the rocks. Every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein.

30 And what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, and adorn yourself with golden ornaments; though you adorn your eyes with stibium, your beauty [will be] in vain: your lovers have rejected you, they seek your life.

You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with makeup, you make yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers despise you. They seek your life.

31 For I have heard your groaning as the voice of a woman in travail, as of her that brings forth her first child; the voice of the daughter of Zion shall fail through weakness, and she shall lose the strength of her hands, [saying], Woe is me! for my soul faints because of the slain.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who gives birth to her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, saying, “Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers.”