Jeremiah 4
1 Yahweh says, “You Israeli [people], come back to me! If you get rid of those detestable idols and do not turn away from me [again],
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.
2 and if you declare, ‘Just as surely as Yahweh lives, what he says is true,’ and if you [start to] always say what is true and act justly/fairly and righteously, then the [people in the other] nations [of the world] will request that I bless them [as I have blessed you], and they will [all come and] honor/praise me.”
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.
3 This is what Yahweh says to the people of Jerusalem and [the other cities in] Judah: “[Prepare yourselves to receive my messages] like farmers plow up hard ground [in order that they can plant seed in it]. Just as farmers do not [waste good seed by] sowing seeds among thorny plants, [I do not want to waste my time telling you messages that you are not ready to receive].
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.
4 Purify your inner beings and your minds for me. If you do not do that, my being angry with you [MTY] because of [all] the sins that you have committed will be like a fire that will be impossible to extinguish.”
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.
5 “Declare this [DOU] to [all the people in] Jerusalem and [the rest of] Judea; blow the trumpets everywhere in the land [to warn the people]. Tell them that they should flee to the cities that have high walls around them.
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.
6 Shout to the people of Jerusalem, ‘Run away [now]! Do not delay, because I am about to cause you to experience a terrible disaster [DOU] that will come from the north.
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.
7 [An army] that has destroyed [many] nations will attack you [like] [MET] a lion that comes out of its den [to attack other animals]. [The soldiers of that army] have taken down their tents and they are ready to march toward your land. They will destroy your cities and leave them without any people still living in them.’
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.
8 So, put on sackcloth/rough clothes and weep and beat your chests [to show that you are very sorry for what you have done], because Yahweh is still very angry with us.
On this gird yourself sackcloth mourn and wail for not it has turned back [the] burning of [the] anger of Yahweh from us.
9 Yahweh said that at the time [he punishes you], the King of Judah and [all his] officials will be very afraid. The priests and the prophets will be terrified.
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.
10 Then I replied, “Yahweh [my] God, you completely deceived the people by telling them that there would be peace in Jerusalem, but now [our enemies] [PRS] are ready to slaughter us with their swords!”
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.
11 When that happens, [Yahweh] will say to the people of Jerusalem, [“A huge army will come to attack you]. They will not [be like a gentle breeze that] separates wheat from chaff. [They will be like] a very hot wind [that blows in] from the desert [MET].
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.
12 [They will be like] [MET] a strong blast that I will send. Now I am declaring that I will punish/destroy you.”
A wind [too] full for these [things] it will come for me now also I I will speak judgments with them.
13 [Our enemies] are about to rush down on us; their chariots are like [SIM] whirlwinds. Their horses are faster than eagles. It will be terrible for us!
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.
14 [You people of] Jerusalem [APO], purify your hearts/inner beings, in order that Yahweh will rescue you. How long will you continue to think about [doing] evil things?
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.
15 From Dan [city in the far north] to the hills of Ephraim [a few miles/kilometers north of Jerusalem] messengers are proclaiming that disasters are coming.
For a voice [is] declaring from Dan and [is] proclaiming trouble from [the] hill country of Ephraim.
16 Tell this to the [people in other] nations [but also] announce it in Jerusalem: [Yahweh says], “An army is coming to Jerusalem from far away; they will shout [a battle-cry] against the cities in Judah.
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.
17 They will set up tents around Jerusalem like people set up temporary shelters [SIM] around a field [at harvest time]. That will happen because the people of Judah have rebelled against me.
Like [those who] guard a field they are on it from round about for me it has been rebellious against [the] utterance of Yahweh.
18 You will be punished very severely; it will [be as though a sword] has stabbed your inner beings. But you are causing those things to happen to you because of the evil things that you have done.”
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.
19 I am extremely anguished/sad; the pain in my inner being is very severe. My heart beats wildly. But I cannot remain silent because I have heard [our enemies] blowing their trumpets to announce that the battle [against Judah will start immediately].
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.
20 Disasters will occur one after another until the whole land is ruined. Suddenly [all] our tents will be destroyed; [even] the curtains [inside the tents] will be ripped apart.
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.
21 How long will this battle continue? How long will I continue to see the enemy battle flags and hear the sound of their trumpets being blown?
Until when? will I see a standard will I hear [the] sound of a trumpet.
22 [Yahweh says], “My people are [very] foolish! They do not have a relationship with me. They are [like] [MET] stupid children who do not understand [anything]. They very cleverly do what is wrong, but they do not know how to do what is good.”
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.
23 [God gave me a vision in which] I saw that the earth was barren and without form. I looked at the sky, and there was no light there.
I looked at the earth and there! [it was] formlessness and emptiness and to the heavens and there not [was] light their.
24 I looked at the mountains and hills, and they shook and moved from side to side.
I looked at the mountains and there! [they were] quaking and all the hills they shook to and fro.
25 I looked and saw that there were no [more] people, and all the birds had flown away.
I looked and there! there not [was] humankind and every bird of the heavens they had fled.
26 I looked and saw that the fields that previously were fertile had become a desert. The cities were all ruined; they had all been destroyed by Yahweh because he was extremely angry.
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.
27 This is what Yahweh is saying: “The entire land [of Judah] will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.
For thus he says Yahweh a desolation it will be all the earth and complete destruction not I will make.
28 I will do to my people what I said that I would do, and I will not change my mind. So [when that happens, it will be as though] the earth will mourn and the sky will become very dark.”
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.
29 [When the people hear] the sound of the [enemy] army marching, [they will be terrified as] they flee from their cities. Some of them will find places to hide in the bushes, and others will run toward the mountains/hills [to escape being killed by their enemies]. All the cities [in Judah] will be abandoned; not one person will remain in them.
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.
30 So you who will surely be destroyed, [why are you doing the things that you are doing now]? Why are you wearing beautiful clothes and jewelry? Why are you putting paint around your eyes? Doing those things will not help you, because the people [in other countries that you think] love you [actually] despise you, and they will try to kill you.
(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.
31 [It is as though] I already hear [the people in Jerusalem] crying very loudly, like [SIM] a woman cries when she is giving birth to her first child; she gasps for breath and pleads for someone to help her. [It is as though Jerusalem] is crying, “Something terrible is happening to me! They are about to murder me!”
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.
