Jeremiah 4
1 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.
O Israel, if thou returne, returne vnto me, saith the Lord: and if thou put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remoue.
2 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.
And thou shalt sweare, The Lord liueth in trueth, in iudgement, and in righteousnesse, and the nations shall be blessed in him, and shall glorie in him.
3 For thus said Jehovah, To the man of Judah, and to Jerusalem: Till for yourselves tillage, And do not sow unto the thorns.
For thus saith the Lord to the men of Iudah, and to Ierusalem,
4 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.
Breake vp your fallowe ground, and sowe not among the thornes: be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskinnes of your hearts, ye men of Iudah, and inhabitants of Ierusalem, lest my wrath come foorth like fire, and burne, that none can quenche it, because of the wickednesse of your inuentions.
5 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.'
Declare in Iudah, and shewe forth in Ierusalem, and say, Blowe the trumpet in the lande: cry, and gather together, and say, Assemble your selues, and let vs goe into strong cities.
6 Lift up an ensign Zionward, Strengthen yourselves, stand not still, For evil I am bringing in from the north, And a great destruction.
Set vp the standart in Zion: prepare to flee, and stay not: for I will bring a plague from the North, and a great destruction.
7 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.
The lyon is come vp from his denne, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is departed, and gone forth of his place to lay thy land waste, and thy cities shalbe destroyed without an inhabitant.
8 For this, gird on sackcloth, lament and howl, For the fierce anger of Jehovah hath not turned back from us.
Wherefore girde you with sackecloth: lament, and howle, for the fierce wrath of the Lord is not turned backe from vs.
9 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.'
And in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the King shall perish, and the heart of the princes and the Priestes shall be astonished, and the Prophets shall wonder.
10 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!'
Then saide I, Ah, Lord God, surely thou hast deceiued this people and Ierusalem, saying, Ye shall haue peace, and the sworde perceth vnto the heart.
11 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, )
At that time shall it bee saide to this people and to Ierusalem, A dry winde in the hie places of the wildernes commeth towarde ye daughter of my people, but neither to fanne nor to clense.
12 A full wind from these doth come for Me, Now, also, I speak judgments with them.
A mightie winde shall come vnto me from those places, and nowe will I also giue sentence vpon them.
13 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.
Beholde, he shall come vp as the cloudes, and his charets shalbe as a tempest: his horses are lighter then eagles. Woe vnto vs, for wee are destroyed.
14 Wash from evil thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, Till when dost thou lodge in thy heart Thoughts of thy strength?
O Ierusalem, wash thine heart from wickednes, that thou maiest be saued: how long shall thy wicked thoughtes remaine within thee?
15 For a voice is declaring from Dan, And sounding sorrow from mount Ephraim.
For a voyce declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.
16 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.
Make ye mention of the heathen, and publish in Ierusalem, Beholde, the skoutes come from a farre countrey, and crie out against the cities of Iudah.
17 As the keepers of a field They have been against her round about, For with Me she hath been rebellious, An affirmation of Jehovah.'
They haue compassed her about as the watchmen of the fielde, because it hath prouoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.
18 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.
Thy wayes and thine inuentions haue procured thee these things, such is thy wickednesse: therefore it shall be bitter, therefore it shall perce vnto thine heart.
19 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!
My bely, my bely, I am pained, euen at the very heart: mine heart is troubled within me: I cannot be still: for my soule hath heard the sounde of the trumpet, and the alarme of the battell.
20 Destruction on destruction is proclaimed, For spoiled hath been all the land, Suddenly spoiled have been my tents, In a moment — my curtains.
Destruction vpon destruction is cryed, for the whole lande is wasted: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtaines in a moment.
21 Till when do I see an ensign? Do I hear the voice of a trumpet?
Howe long shall I see the standert, and heare the sounde of the trumpet?
22 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.
For my people is foolish, they haue not knowen me: they are foolish children, and haue none vnderstanding: they are wise to doe euill, but to doe well they haue no knowledge.
23 I looked [to] the land, and lo, waste and void, And unto the heavens, and their light is not.
I haue looked vpon the earth, and loe, it was without forme and voide: and to the heauens, and they had no light.
24 I have looked [to] the mountains, And lo, they are trembling. And all the hills moved themselves lightly.
I behelde the mountaines: and loe, they trembled and all the hilles shooke.
25 I have looked, and lo, man is not, And all fowls of the heavens have fled.
I behelde, and loe, there was no man, and all the birdes of the heauen were departed.
26 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.
I behelde, and loe, the fruitfull place was a wildernesse, and all the cities thereof were broken downe at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce wrath.
27 For thus said Jehovah: All the land is a desolation, but a completion I make not.
For thus hath the Lord saide, The whole lande shall be desolate: yet will I not make a full ende.
28 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.
Therefore shall the earth mourne, and the heauens aboue shall be darkened, because I haue pronounced it: I haue thought it, and will not repent, neither will I turne backe from it.
29 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.
The whole citie shall flee, for the noyse of the horsemen and bowemen: they shall goe into thickets, and clime vp vpon the rockes: euery citie shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.
30 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.
And when thou shalt be destroyed, what wilt thou doe? Though thou clothest thy selfe with skarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of golde, though thou paintest thy face with colours, yet shalt thou trimme thy selfe in vaine: for thy louers will abhorre thee and seeke thy life.
31 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!'
For I haue heard a noyse as of a woman trauailing, or as one labouring of her first child, euen the voyce of the daughter Zion that sigheth and stretcheth out her handes: woe is me nowe: for my soule fainteth because of the murtherers.
