Jeremiah 4
1 “If you return, Israel—this is Yahweh's declaration—then it should be to me that you return. If you remove your detestable things from before me and do not wander from me again,
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,
2 You must be truthful, just, and righteous when you swear, 'As Yahweh lives.' Then the nations will bless themselves in him, and in him they will glory.”
The Lord lives, with truth, in judgment and righteousness, then shall nations bless by him, and by him they shall praise God in Jerusalem.
3 For Yahweh says this to each person in Judah and Jerusalem: 'Plow your own ground, and do not sow among thorns.
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 among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and remove the foreskins of your heart, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my fury will break out like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the wickedness of your deeds.
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.
5 Report in Judah and let it be heard in Jerusalem. Say, “Blow the trumpet in the land.” Proclaim, “Gather together. Let us go to the fortified cities.”
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.
6 Lift up the signal flag and point it toward Zion, and run for safety! Do not stay, for I am bringing disaster from the north and a great collapse.
Gather up [your wares] and flee to Sion: hasten, stay not: for I will bring evils from the north, and great destruction.
7 A lion is coming out from his thicket and someone who will destroy nations is setting out. He is leaving his place to bring horror to your land, to turn your cities into ruins, where no one will live.
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.
8 Because of this, wrap yourself in sackcloth, lament and wail. For the force of Yahweh's anger has not turned away from us.
For these things gird yourselves with sackcloth, and lament, and howl: for the anger of the Lord is not turned away from you.
9 Then it will happen in that day—this is Yahweh's declaration—that the hearts of the king and his officials will die. The priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be horrified.'”
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.
10 So I said, “Ah! Lord Yahweh. Surely you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, 'There will be peace for you.' Yet the sword is striking against their life.”
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.
11 In that time it will be said of this people and Jerusalem, “A burning wind from the plains of the desert will make its way to the daughter of my people. It will not winnow or cleanse them.
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.
12 A wind far stronger than that will come at my command, and I will now pass sentence against them.
[But] a spirit of full vengeance shall come upon me; and now I declare my judgments against them.
13 See, he is attacking like clouds, and his chariots are like a storm. His horses are faster than eagles. Woe to us, for we will be devastated!
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.
14 Cleanse your heart from wickedness, Jerusalem, so that you might be saved. How long will your deepest thoughts be about how to sin?
Cleanse your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long will your grievous thoughts be within you?
15 For a voice is bringing news from Dan, and the coming disaster is heard from the mountains of Ephraim.
For a voice of one publishing from Dan shall come, and trouble out of mount Ephraim shall be heard of.
16 Make the nations think about this: See, announce to Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a distant land to shout in battle against the cities of Judah.
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.
17 They will be like the watchmen of a cultivated field against her all around, since she has been rebellious against me—this is Yahweh's declaration—
As keepers of a field, they have surrounded her; because you, says the Lord, has neglected me.
18 and your conduct and your deeds have done these things to you. This will be your punishment. How terrible it will be! It will strike your very heart.
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.
19 My heart! My heart! I am in anguish in my heart. My heart is turbulent within me. I cannot keep quiet for I hear the sound of the horn, an alarm for battle.
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;
20 Disaster follows after disaster; for all the land lies in ruins. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment.
for all the land is distressed: suddenly [my] tabernacle is distressed, my curtains have been tore asunder.
21 How long will I see the standard? Will I hear the sound of the horn?
How long shall I see fugitives, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 For the foolishness of my people—they do not know me. They are idiotic people and they have no understanding. They have skill at evil, but do not know to do good.
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.
23 I saw the land. Behold! It was formless and empty. For there was no light for the heavens.
I looked upon the earth, and, behold, [it was] not; and to the sky, an there was no light in it.
24 I looked at the mountains. Behold, they were trembling, and all the hills were shaking about.
I saw the mountains, and they trembled, and [I saw] all the hills in commotion.
25 I looked. Behold, there was no one, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky were scared.
26 I looked. Behold, the orchards were a wilderness and all the cities had been pulled down before Yahweh, before the fury of his wrath.”
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.
27 This is what Yahweh says, “All the land will become a devastation, but I will not completely destroy it.
Thus says the Lord, The whole land shall be desolate; but I will not make a full end.
28 For this reason, the land will mourn, and the heavens above will darken. For I have declared my intentions; I will not hold back; I will not turn from carrying them out.
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.
29 Every city will flee from the noise of the cavalry and the archers with a bow; they will run into the forests. Every city will climb up into the rocky places. The cities will be abandoned, for there will be no one to inhabit them.
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.
30 Now that you have been devastated, what will you do? For though you dress in scarlet, adorn yourself with gold jewelry, and make your eyes look bigger with paint, the men who lusted for you now reject you. Instead, they are trying to take away your life.
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.
31 So I hear the sound of anguish, distress as in the birth of a firstborn child, the sound of the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath. She spreads out her hands, 'Woe to me! I am fainting because of these murderers.'”
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.
