Keraia
Major Prophets

Jeremiah 4

A Plea to Return

1“If you will return, O Israel,

return to Me,” declares the LORD.

“If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight

and no longer waver,

1“If you would return, O Israel, a declaration of YHWH, to Me you must return!” And if you will put away your abominations from My sight, and no longer waver,

2and if you can swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then the nations will be blessed by Him,

and in Him they will glory.”

2and you swear, ‘As YHWH’ lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory.”

3For this is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground,

and do not sow among the thorns.

3For thus says YHWH to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up for yourself the unplowed ground, and do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,

and remove the foreskins of your hearts,

O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.

Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire

and burn with no one to extinguish it,

because of your evil deeds.”

4Circumcise yourselves to YHWH, and turn aside the foreskins of your heart, O men of Judah and dwellers of Jerusalem, lest My fury should go forth like the fire and burn—with no one to extinguish it—from the face of the evil of your deeds!”

Disaster from the North

5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

“Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.

Cry aloud and say,

‘Assemble yourselves

and let us flee to the fortified cities.’

5Declare in Judah and in Jerusalem! Proclaim and say, “Blow the shofar in the land; call out, gather together, and say: ‘Assemble, and let us go into the fortified cities!’

6Raise a signal flag toward Zion.

Seek refuge! Do not delay!

For I am bringing disaster from the north,

and terrible destruction.

6Lift up the standard toward Zion! Seek refuge; do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and great destruction.

7A lion has gone up from his thicket,

and a destroyer of nations has set out.

He has left his lair

to lay waste your land.

Your cities will be reduced to ruins

and lie uninhabited.

7A lion has come up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out! He has gone forth from his place to make your land into a desolation; your cities will be in ruins, without inhabitant.

8So put on sackcloth,

mourn and wail,

for the fierce anger of the LORD

has not turned away from us.”

8Upon thus gird yourselves with sackcloth; lament and wail! For the burning of the anger of YHWH has not turned back from us.”

9“In that day,” declares the LORD,

“the king and officials will lose their courage.

The priests will tremble in fear,

and the prophets will be astounded.”

9“And it will come to pass in that day,” a declaration of YHWH, “That the heart of the king will perish, and the heart of the princes and shall be devastated; the priests and the prophets will be astounded.”

10Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, how completely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

10And I said, “Ah, my Lord YHWH! Truly You have greatly decieved this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘There shall be peace for You,’ and the sword reaches as far as the soul.

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A searing wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward the daughter of My people, but not to winnow or to sift;

11At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: “A dry wind from the barren heights of the wilderness is toward the way of the daughter of My people, not to winnow and not to cleanse—

12a wind too strong for that comes from Me. Now I also pronounce judgments against them.”

12a wind more full than these will come to Me! Even now I speak judgments against them.”

13Behold, he advances like the clouds,

his chariots like the whirlwind.

His horses are swifter than eagles.

Woe to us, for we are ruined!

13Behold, like clouds he shall come up, and his chariots like a whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles! Woe to us, for we are ruined!

14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem,

so that you may be saved.

How long will you harbor

wicked thoughts within you?

14O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall wicked thoughts lodge within you?

15For a voice resounds from Dan,

proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.

15For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims affliction from Mount Ephraim.

16Warn the nations now!

Proclaim to Jerusalem:

“A besieging army comes from a distant land;

they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

16Make mention to the nations—behold, proclaim over Jerusalem: “Besiegers are coming from a land far away, and they will raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

17They surround her like men guarding a field,

because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

17Like those guarding a field, they will be against her all around, because she has rebelled against Me!” A declaration of YHWH.

18“Your ways and deeds

have brought this upon you.

This is your punishment; how bitter it is,

because it pierces to the heart!”

18“Your way and your deeds have made these things for you. This is your evil—how bitter it is, how it reaches as far as your heart!”

Lamentation for Judah

19My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

Oh, the pain in my chest!

My heart pounds within me;

I cannot be silent.

For I have heard the sound of the horn,

the alarm of battle.

19My bowels, my bowels, I writhe in pain, in the walls heart! My heart is roaring within me, I cannot keep silent, for my soul does hear the voice of the shofar, the shout of war.

20Disaster after disaster is proclaimed,

for the whole land is laid waste.

My tents are destroyed in an instant,

my curtains in a moment.

20Destruction upon destruction is called out; for all the land is brought to ruin! Suddenly my tents are left in ruins, and my curtains in a moment.

21How long must I see the signal flag

and hear the sound of the horn?

21How long will I see the standard, and hear the voice of the shofar?

22“For My people are fools;

they have not known Me.

They are foolish children,

without understanding.

They are skilled in doing evil,

but they know not how to do good.”

22“For My people are foolish—they have not known Me! They are foolish children, and they have no understanding! They are wise to do evil, and to do good they do not know.

23I looked at the earth,

and it was formless and void;

I looked to the heavens,

and they had no light.

23I looked upon the earth, and behold—it was formless and void; and to the heavens, and there was no light in them.

24I looked at the mountains,

and behold, they were quaking;

all the hills were swaying.

24I looked upon the mountains, and behold—they began shaking, and all the hills were swaying.

25I looked, and no man was left;

all the birds of the air had fled.

25I looked, and behold—there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.

26I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert.

All its cities were torn down

before the LORD,

before His fierce anger.

26I looked, and behold—the fertile land was a desert, and all its cities were torn down, before YHWH, before the face of the fury of his nose!

27For this is what the LORD says:

“The whole land will be desolate,

but I will not finish its destruction.

27For thus says YHWH: “All the land will be a desolation; and I will not make a full end.

28Therefore the earth will mourn

and the heavens above will grow dark.

I have spoken, I have planned,

and I will not relent or turn back.”

28For the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will grow dark; for I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not repent, and I will not turn back from it.”

29Every city flees

at the sound of the horseman and archer.

They enter the thickets

and climb among the rocks.

Every city is abandoned;

no inhabitant is left.

29From the voice of the horsemen and the bowman every city is fleeing! They will go into thickets, and go up into the rocks; every city is forsaken, and there is not a man dwelling in them.

30And you, O devastated one, what will you do,

though you dress yourself in scarlet,

though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,

though you enlarge your eyes with paint?

You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you;

they want to take your life.

30And you, O devastated one, what are you doing, that you clothe yourself with crimson, that you adorn with ornaments of gold, that you tear open your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself; for you have rejected the ones lusting; they seek your life!

31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor,

a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child—

the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands to say,

“Woe is me,

for my soul faints before the murderers!”

31For I have heard a voice like a woman in labor, distress like one bearing her first child—the voice of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath; she spreads out her hands: “Woe now to me! For my soul has grown faint before those killing.”