Jeremiah 4
4
Blessing or Curse
1If you return,#4:1 Or Repent Israel —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
you will return to me,#Zch 1:3
if you remove your abhorrent idols#Jr 7:30; 16:18; 32:34
from my presence
and do not waver,
2then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”#Dt 6:13; 10:20; Jr 5:2
in truth,#Is 65:16 justice, and righteousness,#Hs 2:19
and then the nations will be blessed#4:2 Or will bless one another by him#Gn 26:3–4
and will boast in him.#Gn 12:1–3; 18:18; 22:18; 1Co 1:31
3For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
Break up the unplowed ground;#Hs 10:12
do not sow among the thorns.#Mt 13:7
4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,#Gn 17:14; Dt 10:16; Jr 9:25; Rm 2:28–29
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it#Is 1:31; Jr 21:12; Am 5:6; Mal 4:1
because of your evil deeds.
Judgment from the North
5Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.#Jr 6:1; Hs 5:8; Jl 2:1; 1Th 4:16–17
Cry out loudly and say,
“Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.”
6Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.#Is 62:10
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north —
a crushing blow.#Is 14:31; 41:25; Jr 1:13; 4:20; 6:1; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41; 51:48; Ezk 26:7
7A lion has gone up from his thicket;#Ps 10:9; 17:12; Is 5:29; Jr 2:15; 5:6; 25:38; 49:19; 50:17,44
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his lair
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.#Is 1:7; 6:11
8Because of this, put on sackcloth;
mourn and wail,#Jl 1:13
for the Lord’s burning anger#Nm 25:4; Ps 78:49
has not turned away from us.
9“On that day” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”
10I said, “Oh no, Lord God, you have certainly deceived#1Kg 22:22; Ezk 14:9; 2Th 2:11 this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’#Jr 6:14; 23:17 while a sword is at#4:10 Lit sword touches our throats.”
11“At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind#Ezk 17:10 blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to my dear#4:11 Lit to the daughter of my people. It comes not to winnow or to sift; 12a wind too strong for this comes at my call.#4:12 Lit comes for me Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.’”#Jr 1:16; Ezk 5:8
13Look, he advances like clouds;#Rv 1:7
his chariots are like a storm.#Is 5:28; 66:15
His horses are swifter than eagles.#2Sm 1:23; Jb 9:26; Lm 4:19
Woe to us, for we are ruined!#Lm 5:16
14Wash the evil from your heart,#Ps 51:2,7; Is 1:16; Jr 2:22; Ti 3:5; Jms 4:8 Jerusalem,
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts?#Ps 119:113
15For a voice announces from Dan,
proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
16Warn the nations: Look!
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;#Is 39:3
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
17They have her surrounded#2Kg 25:1–4
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against me.#Is 1:20
This is the Lord’s declaration.
18Your way and your actions
have brought this on you.#Ps 107:17; Pr 1:31; Jr 7:3,5; 17:10; 18:11; 23:22; 25:5; 26:3,13; 32:19; Hs 4:9; 12:2; Zch 1:4,6
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!
Jeremiah’s Lament
19My anguish, my anguish!#4:19 Lit My inner parts, my inner parts I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in#4:19 Lit the walls of my heart!#Is 16:11; Hab 3:16; Rm 9:1–2
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn —
the shout of battle.
20Disaster after disaster#Ezk 7:26 is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22“For my people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.#Ps 82:5; Is 1:3
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”#Rm 16:19
23I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.#Gn 1:2; Jb 26:7; Is 45:18
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.#Is 5:30; 13:10
24I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;#Jdg 5:5; Ps 46:1–3
all the hills shook.
25I looked, and there was no human being,#Gn 2:5
and all the birds of the sky had fled.#Zph 1:3
26I looked, and the fertile field#Jr 2:7 was a wilderness.#Ps 107:34
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and his burning anger.#Ps 76:7
27For this is what the Lord says:
“The whole land will be a desolation,#Is 6:11
but I will not finish it off.#Neh 9:31; Jr 5:10,18; Rm 11:1–7
28Because of this, the earth will mourn;#Jr 8:13; 14:2; Hs 4:3
the skies above will grow dark.#Ps 105:28; Is 13:10; 50:3; Ezk 30:18
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.”#Nm 23:19; Is 46:11; 48:15; Ezk 37:14
29Every city flees#2Kg 25:4
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.#Is 2:19–21
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
30And you, devastated one, what are you doing#Is 10:3
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enhance your eyes with makeup?#2Kg 9:30
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;#Jr 30:14; Lm 1:19
they intend to take your life.#Ezk 23:9–10,22
31I hear a cry like a woman in labor,#Ps 48:6; Is 13:8; 21:3; 42:14; Jr 6:24; 13:21; 22:23; 30:6; 50:43; Mc 4:9–10; 1Th 5:3
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:#Is 1:15
“Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!”
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Jeremiah 4: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 4
4
1“If you do return, O Yisra’ĕl,” declares יהוה, “return to Me. And if you remove your abominations from My presence, and cease straying,
2and shall swear, ‘As יהוה lives,’ in truth, in right-ruling, and in righteousness – then nations shall bless themselves in Him, and they shall boast in Him!”
3For this is what יהוה said to the men of Yehuḏah and Yerushalayim, “Break up your tillable ground, and do not sow among thorns.
4“Circumcise yourselves unto יהוה, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Yehuḏah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, lest My wrath come forth like fire and burn, with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
5Declare in Yehuḏah and let it be heard in Yerushalayim, and say, “Blow a shophar in the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Gather yourselves, and let us go into the walled city.’
6“Lift up the banner toward Tsiyon. Be strong, do not stand still! For I am bringing evil from the north, and great destruction.”
7“A lion has come up from his bush, and the destroyer of nations is on his way. He has set out from his place to make your land a ruin. Your cities are laid waste, without inhabitant.
8“For this, gird yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail. For the burning displeasure of יהוה has not turned back from us.
9“And in that day it shall be,” declares יהוה, “that the heart of the sovereign shall perish, and the heart of the heads. And the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets wonder.”
10Then I said, “Ah, Master יהוה! Truly, You have greatly deceived this people and Yerushalayim, saying, ‘Peace is for you,’ whereas the sword reaches to the heart.”
11At that time it shall be said to this people and to Yerushalayim, “A scorching wind of the bare heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan or to cleanse.
12“A wind too strong for this shall come for Me. Now it is I who speak judgments against them.
13“See, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots like a whirlwind. His horses shall be swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we shall be ravaged!”
14O Yerushalayim, wash your heart from evil, and be saved. Till when would your wicked thoughts remain within you?
15For a voice is declaring from Dan, and is proclaiming trouble from Mount Ephrayim:
16“Announce to the nations, look, proclaim against Yerushalayim, that besiegers are coming from a distant land and raise their voice against the cities of Yehuḏah.
17“Like keepers of a field they are against her all around, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares יהוה.
18“Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your evil, because it is bitter, because it has reached into your heart.”
19O my inward parts, my inward parts! I am in pain! O the walls of my heart! My heart pounds in me, I am not silent. For you have heard, O my being, a voice of a shophar, a shout of battle!
20Destruction upon destruction is cried, for all the land is ravaged. Suddenly my tents are ravaged – my curtains in a moment.
21How long shall I see a banner, and hear a voice of a shophar?
22“For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.”
23I looked at the earth, and saw it was formless and empty. And the heavens, they had no light.
24I looked at the mountains, and saw they shook, and all the hills were swaying.
25I looked, and saw there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26I looked, and saw the garden land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of יהוה, by His burning displeasure.
27For thus said יהוה, “All the earth shall be a ruin, but I shall not make a complete end.
28“On account of this, let the earth mourn and the heavens above be dark, because I have spoken, because I have purposed and shall not relent, nor do I turn back from it.”
29All the city is fleeing from the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They shall go into bushes and climb up on the rocks. All the city is forsaken, and no one is dwelling in it.
30And when you are ravaged, what would you do? Though you put on crimson, though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, you beautify yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you, they seek your life.
31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in labour, the distress as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Tsiyon! She bewails herself, she spreads out her hands, saying, “Woe to me, for my being faints because of killers!”
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