Jeremiah 4
1 If you will return O Israel - [the] utterance of Yahweh to me you will return and if you will remove detestable things your from before me and not you will waver.
“O Israel, if you would return, says the Lord, then be converted to me. If you remove your offense from before my face, then you will not be shaken.
2 And you will swear [by] [the] life of Yahweh in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness and they will bless themselves by him nations and in him they will boast.
And you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth and in judgment and in justice.” And the Gentiles will bless him, and they will praise him.
3 For thus - he says Yahweh to [the] man of Judah and to Jerusalem plow of you unplowed ground and may not you sow to thorns.
For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and of Jerusalem: “Break new ground, and do not choose to sow upon thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh and remove [the] foreskins of heart your O man of Judah and [the] inhabitants of Jerusalem lest it should go forth like fire rage my and it will burn and there not [will be one who] extinguishes because of [the] wickedness of deeds your.
Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins from your hearts, O men of Judah, O inhabitants of Jerusalem. Otherwise my indignation may burst forth and flare up like a fire. And then there will be no one who can extinguish it, because of the wickedness of your thoughts.
5 Declare in Judah and in Jerusalem make a proclamation and say (blow *Q(K)*) a trumpet in the land call out fill and say gather yourselves so let us go to [the] cities of fortification.
Declare it in Judah, and make it known in Jerusalem! Speak out and sound the trumpet in the land! Cry out strongly and say: ‘Gather yourselves! And let us go forth to fortified cities!’
6 Lift up a standard Zion towards take refuge may not you stand still for calamity I [am] about to bring from [the] north and destruction great.
Lift up a standard in Zion. Be strengthened! Do not choose to stand still. For I am bringing an evil from the north, with great destruction.
7 It has gone up a lion from thicket its and a destroyer of nations he has set out he has gone out from place his to make land your into a waste cities your they will fall in ruins from not inhabitant.
The lion has ascended from his den, and the pillager of the nations has lifted himself up. He has gone forth from his place, so that he may set your land in desolation. Your cities will be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant.
8 On this gird yourself sackcloth mourn and wail for not it has turned back [the] burning of [the] anger of Yahweh from us.
Concerning this, wrap yourselves in haircloth, mourn and wail: ‘For the wrath of the fury of the Lord has not been turned away from us.’
9 And it will be on the day that [the] utterance of Yahweh it will perish [the] heart of the king and [the] heart of the officials and they will be appalled the priests and the prophets they will be astounded.
And this shall be in that day, says the Lord: The heart of the king will perish, with the heart of the princes. And the priests will be stupefied, and the prophets will be in consternation.”
10 And I said alas! - O Lord Yahweh truly certainly you have deceived the people this and Jerusalem saying peace it will belong to you and it will reach a sword to the throat.
And I said: “Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Could it be that you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: ‘Peace shall be yours,’ while, behold, the sword reaches even to the soul?”
11 At the time that it will be said to the people this and to Jerusalem a wind scorching bare heights in the wilderness [will be] [the] direction of [the] daughter of people my not to winnow and not to cleanse.
“In that time, it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: ‘A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert, along the way of the daughter of my people, but not to winnow and not to cleanse.’
12 A wind [too] full for these [things] it will come for me now also I I will speak judgments with them.
A full spirit from these places will come to me. And now I will speak my judgments over them.
13 There! - like clouds he is going up and like the storm-wind chariots his they are swift more than eagles horses his woe! to us for we are devastated.
Behold, he will ascend like a cloud, and his chariot will ascend like a tempest. His horses are swifter than eagles. ‘Woe to us! For we are being devastated!’
14 Wash from evil heart your O Jerusalem so that you may be saved until when? will it remain in inner being your [the] thoughts of wickedness your.
Wash your heart from malice, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will harmful thoughts abide in you?
15 For a voice [is] declaring from Dan and [is] proclaiming trouble from [the] hill country of Ephraim.
For there is a voice, of someone announcing from Dan, and he is making known the idol from mount Ephraim.
16 Make known to the nations here! proclaim to Jerusalem besiegers [are] coming from [the] land of distance and they have given forth on [the] cities of Judah voice their.
Say to the nations: ‘Behold, it has been heard in Jerusalem! Guardians are coming from a far away land, to utter their voice against the cities of Judah.’
17 Like [those who] guard a field they are on it from round about for me it has been rebellious against [the] utterance of Yahweh.
They have been stationed over her, like the guardians of fields, all around. For she has provoked me to wrath, says the Lord.
18 Conduct your and deeds your they have brought about these [things] to you this [is] wickedness your for it is bitter for it has reached to heart your.
Your ways and your thoughts have brought these things upon you. This is your own wickedness. And it is bitter, because it has touched your heart.
19 Inward parts my - inward parts my - (I am waiting *Q(K)*) [the] walls of heart my [is] in turmoil to me heart my not I will keep silent for [the] sound of a trumpet (you have heard *Q(K)*) O self my [the] shout of battle.
I am afflicted in my heart, in my heart. The senses of my heart have been stirred up within me. I will not remain silent. For my soul has heard the voice of the trumpet, the clamor of the battle.
20 Destruction to destruction it has been proclaimed for it has been devastated all the land suddenly they have been devastated tents my a moment tent curtains my.
Destruction upon destruction has been called forth. And the entire earth has been devastated. My tabernacles have been destroyed suddenly, and my tents in an instant.
21 Until when? will I see a standard will I hear [the] sound of a trumpet.
How long shall I watch those who are fleeing, and listen to the voice of the trumpet?
22 For - [is] a fool people my me not they know [are] children fools they and not [are] having understanding they [are] skillful they to do evil and to do good not they know.
For my foolish people have not known me. They are foolish and mad sons. They are clever in doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.
23 I looked at the earth and there! [it was] formlessness and emptiness and to the heavens and there not [was] light their.
I gazed upon the earth, and behold, it was empty and brought to nothing. And I gazed upon the heavens, but there was no light in them.
24 I looked at the mountains and there! [they were] quaking and all the hills they shook to and fro.
I watched the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills were shaken.
25 I looked and there! there not [was] humankind and every bird of the heavens they had fled.
I looked, and there was no man. And all the flying things of the air had gone away.
26 I looked and there! the garden-land [was] wilderness and all cities its they had been pulled down from before Yahweh from before [the] burning of anger his.
I gazed, and behold, Carmel was a desert, and all its cities were destroyed before the face of the Lord, and before the face of the wrath of his fury.”
27 For thus he says Yahweh a desolation it will be all the earth and complete destruction not I will make.
For thus says the Lord: “All the earth will be desolate, but I will not yet bring about its consummation.
28 On this it will mourn the earth and they will be dark the heavens above on for I have spoken I have resolved and not I have repented and not I will turn back from it.
The earth will mourn, and the heavens will lament from above. For I have spoken, I have decided, and I have not regretted. Neither will I be turned away from it.
29 From [the] sound of a horseman and a shooter of a bow [is] fleeing every city people will go in the thickets and on the rocks people will go up every city [is] abandoned and there not [is] dwelling in them anyone.
Before the voice of the horsemen and of those who send forth arrows, the entire city has fled. They have entered steep places, and they have ascended the cliffs. All of the cities have been abandoned, and no man lives within them.
30 (And you *Q(K)*) O devastated [one] what? are you doing that you are dressing scarlet that you ornament yourself ornament[s] of gold that you tear open with eye-paint eyes your for vanity you beautify yourself they have rejected you lovers life your they seek.
So then, when you have been devastated, what will you do? Though you will clothe yourself with scarlet, though you will adorn yourself with a gold necklace and tint your eyes with cosmetics, you will be dressing yourself up in vain. Your lovers have spurned you; they will be seeking your life.
31 For a sound like a sick [woman] I have heard distress like a [woman] bearing a first child [the] sound of [the] daughter of Zion she is gasping for breath she is spreading out hands her woe! please to me for it is weary self my to murderers.
For I have heard a voice, like that of a woman giving birth, during the difficulties of labor. It is the voice of the daughter of Zion, dying, extending her hands: ‘Woe to me! For my soul is failing because of those who have been slain!’”
