Jeremiah 4
1 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.
If thou dost turn back, O Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, unto Me turn back, And if thou dost turn aside Thine abominations from My face, Then thou dost not bemoan.
2 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.
And thou hast sworn — Jehovah liveth, In truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, And blessed themselves in Him have nations, And in Him they boast themselves.
3 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.
For thus said Jehovah, To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: Till for yourselves tillage, And do not sow unto the thorns.
4 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.
Be circumcised to Jehovah, And turn aside the foreskins of your heart, O man of Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury go out as fire, and hath burned, And there is none quenching, Because of the evil of your doings.
5 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.
Declare in Judah, and in Jerusalem sound, And say ye, 'Blow a trumpet in the land,' Call ye fully, and say ye: 'Be gathered, and we go in to the fenced city.'
6 Reise ye a signe in Sion, coumforte ye, and nyle ye stonde; for Y bringe yuel fro the north, and a greet sorewe.
Lift up an ensign Zionward, Strengthen yourselves, stand not still, For evil I am bringing in from the north, And a great destruction.
7 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.
Gone up hath a lion from his thicket, And a destroyer of nations hath journeyed, He hath come forth from his place To make thy land become a desolation, Thy cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.
8 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.
For this, gird on sackcloth, lament and howl, For the fierce anger of Jehovah hath not turned back from us.
9 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.
And it hath come to pass, in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah: 'Perish doth the heart of the king, And the heart of the princes, And astonished have been the priests, And the prophets do wonder.'
10 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?
And I say, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, Surely thou hast entirely forgotten this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace is for you, And struck hath a sword unto the soul!'
11 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.
At that time it is said of this people, And of Jerusalem: 'A dry wind of high places in the wilderness,' The way of the daughter of My people, (Not for winnowing, nor for cleansing, )
12 A spirit ful of hem schal come to me; and now Y, but Y schal speke my domes with hem.
A full wind from these doth come for Me, Now, also, I speak judgments with them.
13 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.
Lo, as clouds he cometh up, And as a hurricane his chariots, Lighter than eagles have been his horses, Woe to us, for we have been spoiled.
14 Thou Jerusalem, waische thin herte fro malice, that thou be maad saaf. Hou long schulen noiful thouytis dwelle in thee?
Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?
15 For whi the vois of a tellere fro Dan, and makynge knowun an idol fro the hil of Effraym.
For a voice is declaring from Dan, And sounding sorrow from mount Ephraim.
16 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.
Make ye mention to the nations, Lo, sound ye to Jerusalem: 'Besiegers are coming from the land afar off, And they give forth against cities of Judah their voice.
17 As the keperis of feeldis thei ben maad on it in cumpas; for it stiride me to wrathfulnesse, seith the Lord.
As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
18 Thi weyes and thi thouytis han maad this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bittir, for it touchide thin herte.
Thy way and thy doings have done these to thee, This [is] thy vexation, for [it is] bitter, For it hath struck unto thy heart.
19 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.
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained [at] the walls of my heart, Make a noise for me doth My heart, I am not silent, For the voice of a trumpet I have heard, O my soul — a shout of battle!
20 Sorewe is clepid on sorewe, and al the lond is distried; my tabernaclis ben wastid sudeynli, my skynnes ben wastid sudeynli.
Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment — my curtains.
21 Hou longe schal Y se hem that fleen, schal Y here the vois of a clarioun?
Till when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a trumpet?
22 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.
For my people [are] foolish, me they have not known, Foolish sons [are] they, yea, they [are] not intelligent, Wise [are] they to do evil, And to do good they have not known.
23 Y bihelde the lond, and lo! it was void, and nouyt; and Y bihelde heuenes, and no liyt was in tho.
I looked [to] the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not.
24 Y siy munteyns, and lo! tho weren mouyd, and all litle hillis weren disturblid.
I have looked [to] the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly.
25 Y lokide, and no man was, and ech brid of heuene was gon a wey.
I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled.
26 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.
I have looked, and lo, The fruitful place [is] a wilderness, And all its cities have been broken down, Because of Jehovah, Because of the fierceness of His anger.
27 For the Lord seith these thingis, Al the lond schal be forsakun, but netheles Y schal not make an endyng.
For thus said Jehovah: All the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not.
28 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.
For this doth the land mourn, And black have been the heavens above, because I have spoken — I have purposed, And I have not repented, Nor do I turn back from it.
29 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.
From the voice of the horseman, And of him shooting with the bow, all the city is fleeing, They have come into thickets, And on cliffs they have gone up, All the city is forsaken, And there is no one dwelling in them.
30 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.
And thou, O spoiled one, what dost thou? For thou puttest on scarlet, For thou adornest thyself [with] ornaments of gold. For thou rendest with pain thine eyes, In vain thou dost make thyself fair, Kicked against thee have doting ones, Thy life they do seek.
31 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.
For a voice as of a sick woman I have heard, Distress, as of one bringing forth a first-born, The voice of the daughter of Zion, She bewaileth herself, she spreadeth out her hands, 'Woe to me now, for weary is my soul of slayers!'
