| Jer. 4:1 |
If you will return, O Israel, declares Jehovah, / Return to Me; / And if you put away your detestable things from My presence / And do not wander, |
| Jer. 4:2 |
And swear, As Jehovah lives, / In truth and in justice and in righteousness, / Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, / And in Him they will glory. |
| Jer. 4:3 |
For thus says Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, / Break up your fallow ground, / And do not sow among thorns. |
| Jer. 4:4 |
Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, / And remove the foreskins of your heart, / Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, / Lest My wrath go forth like fire / And burn, and there be no one to quench it / Because of the evil of your deeds. |
| Jer. 4:5 |
Declare in Judah / And proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: / Blow the trumpet in the land; / Cry aloud and say, / Gather yourselves and let us go / Into the fortified cities. |
| Jer. 4:6 |
Raise up a standard toward Zion. / Seek refuge; do not stay; / For I am bringing evil from the north, / And great destruction. |
| Jer. 4:7 |
A 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 a waste; / Your cities will be ruins, / Without an inhabitant. |
| Jer. 4:8 |
For this, gird yourselves with sackcloth, / Wail and howl; / For the burning anger of Jehovah / Has not turned away from us. |
| Jer. 4:9 |
And in that day, declares Jehovah, the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astounded. |
| Jer. 4:10 |
And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah, surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You will have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the soul. |
| Jer. 4:11 |
At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not for winnowing nor for purging |
| Jer. 4:12 |
(A wind too strong for these), will come from Me; now I will also utter judgments against them. |
| Jer. 4:13 |
Here he is coming up like clouds, / And his chariots like the whirlwind; / His horses are swifter than eagles. / Woe to us for we are devastated! |
| Jer. 4:14 |
Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, / That you may be saved. / How long will your evil thoughts / Lodge within you? |
| Jer. 4:15 |
For a voice declares from Dan / And announces affliction from the hill country of Ephraim. |
| Jer. 4:16 |
Make mention to the nations; yes, / Announce against Jerusalem. / Besiegers are coming from a distant land / And utter their voice against the cities of Judah. |
| Jer. 4:17 |
Like those who watch over a field, they are against her all around / Because she has rebelled against Me, declares Jehovah. |
| Jer. 4:18 |
Your way and your deeds / Have caused these things [to happen] to you. / This is your wickedness. Indeed it is bitter! / Indeed it reaches to your heart! |
| Jer. 4:19 |
My bowels, my bowels; I am writhing. / Oh, the walls of my heart! / My heart is moaning within me; / I cannot be silent; / For you hear, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, / The alarm of war. |
| Jer. 4:20 |
Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed, / For the whole land is devastated. / Suddenly my tents are devastated, / [And] my curtains in a moment. |
| Jer. 4:21 |
How long will I see the standard, / [And] hear the sound of the trumpet? |
| Jer. 4:22 |
For My people are foolish; / They do not know Me. / They are stupid children / And have no understanding. / They are wise to do evil, / But they do not know to do good. |
| Jer. 4:23 |
I looked at the earth, and there it was, waste and emptiness; / And at the heavens, and they had no light. |
| Jer. 4:24 |
I looked at the mountains, and there they were, shaking, / And all the hills were swaying. |
| Jer. 4:25 |
I looked, and there was no man, / And all the birds of the heavens had fled. |
| Jer. 4:26 |
I looked, and there was the fruitful land, a wilderness, / And all its cities were torn down / Before Jehovah, before His burning anger. |
| Jer. 4:27 |
For thus says Jehovah, / The whole land will be a desolation, / But I will not make a full end; |
| Jer. 4:28 |
For this the earth will mourn, / And the heavens above will be dark; / Because I have spoken, I have purposed; / And I have not repented, nor will I turn from it. |
| Jer. 4:29 |
At the sound of horsemen and archers / Every city flees; / They go into the thickets / And climb up on the rocks. / Every city is forsaken, / And not even one inhabits them. |
| Jer. 4:30 |
And you, O desolate one, what will you do? / Although you dress in scarlet, / Although you are adorned with ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, / In vain do you beautify yourself; / [Your] lovers despise you; / They seek your life. |
| Jer. 4:31 |
For I heard a cry like that of a woman in travail, / Anguish like that of a woman bringing forth her first child, / The sound of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath; / She stretches out her hands, [saying,] / Woe is me, / For my soul is fainting before murderers. |