Jeremiah 4
1 Israel, if you want to come back, then come back to me, declares the Lord. If you get rid of these disgusting idols I see, and don't wander away,
Israel, if thou turnest ayen, seith the Lord, turne thou to me; if thou takist awei thin offendyngis fro my face, thou schalt not be mouyd.
2 and if when you make your vows, you do so only to me, sincerely, truly, and honestly, then the nations will be blessed by me, and they will praise me.
And thou schalt swere, The Lord lyueth, in treuthe and in doom and in riytfulnesse; and alle folkis schulen blesse hym, and schulen preise hym.
3 This is what the Lord is saying to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: Plow your unplowed ground, and don't sow among the thorns.
For the Lord God seith these thingis to a man of Juda and to a dwellere of Jerusalem, Make ye newe to you a lond tilid of the newe, and nyle ye sowe on thornes.
4 Dedicate yourselves to the Lord; be totally committed to him, people of Judah and Jerusalem. Otherwise, my anger will blaze like fire, burning so hard that no one can put it out because of the evil you've done.
Men of Juda, and dwelleris of Jerusalem, be ye circumcidid to the Lord, and do ye awey the filthis of youre hertis; lest perauenture myn indignacioun go out as fier, and be kyndlid, and noon be that quenche, for the malice of youre thouytis.
5 Announce this warning throughout Judah and Jerusalem! Tell them: Blow the trumpet everywhere in the country! Shout out, “Hurry! Let's run to the fortified towns for protection!”
Telle ye in Juda, and make ye herd in Jerusalem; speke ye, and synge ye with a trumpe in the lond; crye ye strongli, and seie ye, Be ye gaderid togidere, and entre we in to stronge citees.
6 Raise the danger flag; go to Zion! Find somewhere safe! Don't hesitate! I'm bringing enemies from the north who will cause terrible destruction.
Reise ye a signe in Sion, coumforte ye, and nyle ye stonde; for Y bringe yuel fro the north, and a greet sorewe.
7 A lion has left his hiding place; a destroyer of nations has started out. He has left his den to come and turn your country into a wasteland. Your towns will be demolished, and no one will live there.
A lioun schal `rise vp fro his denne, and the robbere of folkis schal reise hym silf. He is goon out of his place, to sette thi lond in to wildirnesse; thi citees schulen be distried, abidynge stille with out dwellere.
8 Wear clothes made of sackcloth, weep and wail, crying out, “The Lord's furious anger against us hasn't stopped.”
On this thing girde you with heiris; weile ye, and yelle, for the wraththe of the strong veniaunce of the Lord is not turned awei fro you.
9 When that happens declares the Lord, the king and officials will lose heart, the priests will be devastated, and the prophets will be shocked.
And it schal be, in that dai, seith the Lord, the herte of the king schal perische, and the herte of princis; and the prestis schulen wondre, and the prophetis schulen be astonyed.
10 Then I said, “Oh, Lord God, you have completely fooled the people of Jerusalem by telling them, ‘You will have peace,’ while holding a sword to our throats.”
And Y seide, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therfor whether thou hast disseyued this puple and Jerusalem, seiynge, Pees schal be to you, and lo! a swerd is comun `til to the soule?
11 At that time the people of Jerusalem will be told, “A burning wind from the bare hills of the desert is blowing toward the Jerusalem, but not to blow away the chaff or the dust.
In that tyme it schal be seide to this puple and to Jerusalem, A brennynge wynd in the weies that ben in desert, ben the weies of the douytir of my puple, not to wyndewe, and not to purge.
12 No, this wind is too strong for that, and it comes from me. Now I'm also going to tell them how I will punish them.”
A spirit ful of hem schal come to me; and now Y, but Y schal speke my domes with hem.
13 Look, he's rushing in like stormclouds; his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses fly faster than eagles. “What a disaster! We're ruined!”
Lo! he schal stie as a cloude, and hise charis as a tempest; hise horsis ben swifter than eglis; wo to vs, for we ben distried.
14 Clean the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you can be saved. How long will you hold onto your evil thoughts?
Thou Jerusalem, waische thin herte fro malice, that thou be maad saaf. Hou long schulen noiful thouytis dwelle in thee?
15 News is shouted out from Dan, announcing disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
For whi the vois of a tellere fro Dan, and makynge knowun an idol fro the hil of Effraym.
16 “Let the nations know! Look what's happening! Announce this to Jerusalem: An army is coming to besiege you from a distant country; shouting war-cries against the towns of Judah.
Reise, ye folkis; lo! it is herd in Jerusalem that keperis ben comun fro a fer lond, and yyuen her vois on the citees of Juda.
17 They encircle her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
As the keperis of feeldis thei ben maad on it in cumpas; for it stiride me to wrathfulnesse, seith the Lord.
18 You've brought this on yourself by your own attitudes and actions. This is your punishment, and it's so painful, it's like being stabbed in the heart!”
Thi weyes and thi thouytis han maad this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bittir, for it touchide thin herte.
19 “I'm in agony, absolute agony! My heart is breaking! It's beating wildly in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I can't keep quiet because I've heard the trumpet, the signal for battle.
Mi wombe akith, my wombe akith; the wittis of myn herte ben disturblid in me. Y schal not be stille, for my soule herde the vois of a trumpe, the cry of batel.
20 News of one disaster after another comes flooding in, for the whole country is in ruins. My own home is destroyed in a moment, and everything inside.
Sorewe is clepid on sorewe, and al the lond is distried; my tabernaclis ben wastid sudeynli, my skynnes ben wastid sudeynli.
21 How long do I have to see the flags of war and hear the trumpets of battle?”
Hou longe schal Y se hem that fleen, schal Y here the vois of a clarioun?
22 “My people are stupid; they don't know me. They are foolish children who just don't understand. They're experts at doing evil, but they don't know how to do good.”
For my fonned puple knew not me; thei ben vnwise sones, and cowardis; thei ben wise to do yuels, but thei kouden not do wel.
23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; I looked to the heavens, and its light was gone.
Y bihelde the lond, and lo! it was void, and nouyt; and Y bihelde heuenes, and no liyt was in tho.
24 I looked at the mountains, and saw that they were shaking; all the hills were swaying to and fro.
Y siy munteyns, and lo! tho weren mouyd, and all litle hillis weren disturblid.
25 I looked, and nobody was left; all the birds had flown away.
Y lokide, and no man was, and ech brid of heuene was gon a wey.
26 I looked, and the productive fields were a desert. All the towns were demolished because of the Lord's furious anger.
Y bihelde, and lo! Carmele is forsakun, and alle citees therof ben distried fro the face of the Lord, and fro the face of the ire of his strong veniaunce.
27 This is what the Lord says: “The whole country will be devastated, but I won't do so completely.
For the Lord seith these thingis, Al the lond schal be forsakun, but netheles Y schal not make an endyng.
28 The earth will mourn and the heavens above will go dark. I have spoken; this is what I have ordered. I'm not going to stop or change my mind.”
The erthe schal mourne, and heuenys aboue schulen make sorewe, for that Y spak; Y thouyte, and it repentide not me, nether Y am turned awei fro it.
29 People from every town: run away when they hear the enemy horsemen and archers coming. They hide in the forest and among the rocks. All the towns are abandoned; no one lives in them.
Ech citee fledde fro the vois of a knyyt, and of a man schetynge an arowe; thei entriden in to hard places, and stieden in to roochis of stoon; alle citees ben forsakun, and no man dwellith in tho.
30 You, Jerusalem, now desolate, what are you going to do? Even though you dress in scarlet clothes, and put on gold jewelry, and paint your eyes with make-up, all your dressing-up is pointless! Your lovers hate you; they want to kill you!
But what schalt thou `destried do? Whanne thou schalt clothe thee with reed scarlet, whanne thou schalt be ourned with a goldun broche, and schalt anoynte thin iyen with wommans oynement, thou schalt be araied in veyn; thi louyeris han dispisid thee, thei schulen seke thi soule.
31 I hear the cries like a woman in labor, the agonizing moans of a woman giving birth to her first child. These are the cries of the Daughter of Zion gasping for air, holding out her hands, saying, “Please help me, I'm being murdered!”
For Y herd a vois as of a womman trauelynge of child, the angwischis as of a womman childynge; the vois of the douyter of Sion among hem that dien, and spreden abrood her hondis; Wo to me, for my soule failide for hem that ben slayn.
