Jeremiah 4
1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, Declareth Yahweh, Unto me, mayst thou return, —And if thou wilt remove thine abominations from before me, Then shalt thou not become a wanderer.
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,
2 If thou wilt swear, By the life of Yahweh! in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness, Then shall the nations bless themselves in him, And, in him, shall they glory.
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.
3 For thus saith Yahweh Unto the men of Judah and unto Jerusalem, Till ye the untilled ground, —And do not sow among thorns.
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.
4 Circumcise yourselves unto Yahweh So shall ye remove the impurity of your heart, ye men of Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, —Lest mine indignation, go forth as fire, and burn and there be none to quench it, Because of the wickedness of your doings.
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.
5 Declare ye in Judah And in Jerusalem, let it be heard, And say, Blow ye a horn in the land, —Cry, with frill voice And say, Gather yourselves together, And let us enter the defenced cities.
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!”
6 Lift up an ensign—Zion-ward, Bring into safety, do not tarry, —For, calamity, am, I, bringing in from the North, Even, a great destruction:
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.
7 There hath come up a lion out of his thicket, Yea, a destroyer of nations—hath set forward, hath come forth out of his place, —To make thy land a desolation, Thy cities, shall fall in ruins, so as to have no inhabitant.
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.
8 On this account, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, —Because the glow of the anger of Yahweh hath not turned from us.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth, weep and wail, crying out, “The Lord's furious anger against us hasn't stopped.”
9 And it shall come to pass, in that day, Declareth Yahweh, That the courage of the king shall fail, And the courage of the princes, —And the priests shall be astonished, And, the prophets, shall be amazed.
When that happens declares the Lord, the king and officials will lose heart, the priests will be devastated, and the prophets will be shocked.
10 Then said I, —Ah! My Lord Yahweh! Surely, thou hast suffered this people and Jerusalem to be beguiled, saying, Peace, shall ye have, —whereas the sword shall reach unto the soul.
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.”
11 At that time, shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem, —The sharp wind of the bare heights in the desert, cometh towards the daughter of my people, —not to winnow nor to cleanse.
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.
12 A wind too strong for these, cometh in for me. Now, will, I also, pronounce sentences upon them:
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.”
13 Lo! like clouds, shall he come up, Even as a storm-wind, his chariots, Swifter than eagles, his horses, —Woe to us for we are laid waste!
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!”
14 Wash from wickedness thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, —How long, shall lodge within thee thy wicked devices?
Clean the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you can be saved. How long will you hold onto your evil thoughts?
15 For a voice, declareth from Dan, —And publisheth trouble from the hill country of Ephraim.
News is shouted out from Dan, announcing disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16 Put ye in mind the nations Lo! publish ye against Jerusalem, Blockaders! are coming in from a land afar off, —And have uttered against the cities of Judah their voice:
“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.
17 As the keepers of a field, have they come against her round about, —For against me, hath she rebelled, Declareth Yahweh.
They encircle her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
18 Thine own way And thine own doings, Have done these things unto thee, —This thy wickedness, Surely it is bitter, Surely it hath reached unto thy heart.
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!”
19 My bowels! My bowels! I am pained in the walls of my heart My heart beateth aloud to me I cannot be still! For the sound of a horn, hast thou heard O my soul, The loud shout of war!
“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.
20 Breach upon breach, they cry, For ruined, is all the land, —Suddenly, are ruined my tents, In a moment, my curtains!
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.
21 How long shall I keep on seeing a standard, —continue to hear the sound of a horn?
How long do I have to see the flags of war and hear the trumpets of battle?”
22 Surely, perverse, is my people Me, have they not known, Foolish sons, they are, Yea without understanding, they are: Wise, they are to commit wickedness, But how to do well, they know not!
“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.”
23 I beheld, The earth; and lo! it was waste and wild, —The heavens also and their light was not:
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; I looked to the heavens, and its light was gone.
24 I beheld, The mountains, and lo! they were trembling, —And all the hills, had been violently moved:
I looked at the mountains, and saw that they were shaking; all the hills were swaying to and fro.
25 I beheld, And lo! there was no human being, —Yea, all the birds of the heavens! had fled:
I looked, and nobody was left; all the birds had flown away.
26 I beheld, And lo! the garden-land, was a desert, —And, all its cities, had been broken down, Because of Yahweh, Because of the glow of his anger!
I looked, and the productive fields were a desert. All the towns were demolished because of the Lord's furious anger.
27 For, thus, saith Yahweh, A desolation, shall all the land become—Nevertheless a full end, will I not make.
This is what the Lord says: “The whole country will be devastated, but I won't do so completely.
28 For this cause, shall the land mourn, and the heavens above be overcast: Because I have spoken have purposed, and have not repented nor will I turn back therefrom.
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.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer, The whole city is in flight, They have entered dark thickets, Yea unto the crags, have they gone up, —Every city, is forsaken, There remaineth not in them a man!
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.
30 And when, thou, art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson Though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold Though thou enlarge with antimony thine eyes, In vain, shalt thou make thyself fair, —Paramours have rejected thee, Thy life, will they seek!
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!
31 For a voice as of a woman in pangs, have I heard Anguish as of her that is bearing her firstborn. The voice of the daughter of Zion! She gaspeth for breath, She spreadeth forth her palms, —Surely woe to me! For my soul fainteth before murderers.
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!”
