Jeremiah 4
4
How Israel Can Return to the Lord
1The Lord said:
Israel, if you really want
to come back to me, get rid
of those disgusting idols.
2Make promises only in my name,
and do what you promise!
Then all nations will praise me,
and I will bless them.
3 #
Ho 10.12. People of Jerusalem and Judah,
don't be so stubborn!
Your hearts have become hard,
like unplowed ground
where thornbushes grow.
4With all your hearts,
keep the agreement
I made with you.
But if you are stubborn
and keep on sinning,
my anger will burn like a fire
that cannot be put out.
Disaster Is Coming
The Lord said:
* 5“Sound the trumpets, my people.
Warn the people of Judah,#4.5 Judah: Hebrew “Judah and Jerusalem.”
‘Run for your lives!
6Head for Jerusalem
or another walled town!’
“Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending
disaster from the north.
7An army will come out,
like a lion from its den.
It will destroy nations
and leave your towns empty
and in ruins.”
8Then I told the people
of Israel,
“Put on sackcloth!#4.8 sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.
Mourn and cry out,
‘The Lord is still angry
with us.’ ”
9The Lord said,
“When all this happens,
the king and his officials,
the prophets and the priests
will be shocked and terrified.”
10I said, “You are the Lord God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?”
The Coming Disaster
11-12When disaster comes, the Lord will tell you people of Jerusalem,
“I am sending a windstorm
from the desert—
not a welcome breeze.#4.11,12 a welcome breeze: Hebrew “a wind to blow away the husks.” Farmers used a special shovel to pitch grain and husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up.
And it will sweep you away
as punishment for your sins.
13Look! The enemy army
swoops down like an eagle;
their cavalry and chariots
race faster than storm clouds
blown by the wind.”
Then you will answer,
“We are doomed!”
14But Jerusalem, there is still time
for you to be saved.
Wash the evil from your hearts
and stop making sinful plans,
15before a message of disaster
arrives from the hills of Ephraim
and the town of Dan.#4.15 Ephraim … Dan: The hills of Ephraim were to the north of Jerusalem, and Dan was even farther north. They would be reached by the invading army first.
16-17The Lord said,
“Tell the nations that my people
have rebelled against me.
And so an army will come
from far away
to surround Jerusalem
and the towns of Judah.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18“People of Judah,
your hearts will be in pain,
but it's your own fault
that you will be punished.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Punishment
19I can't stand the pain!
My heart pounds,
as I twist and turn in agony.
I hear the signal trumpet
and the battle cry of the enemy,
and I cannot be silent.
20I see the enemy defeating us
time after time,
leaving everything in ruins.
Even my own home
is destroyed in a moment.
21How long will I see enemy flags
and hear their trumpets?
22I heard the Lord say,
“My people ignore me.
They are foolish children
who do not understand
that they will be punished.
All they know is how to sin.”
23After this, I looked around.
The earth was barren,
with no form of life.
The sun, moon, and stars
had disappeared.
24The mountains were shaking;
25no people could be seen,
and all the birds
had flown away.
26Farmland had become a desert,
and towns were in ruins.
The Lord's fierce anger
had done all of this.
The Death of Jerusalem
27-28The Lord said:
I have made my decision,
and I won't change my mind.
This land will be destroyed,
although not completely.
The sky will turn dark,
and the earth will mourn.
29Enemy cavalry and archers
shout their battle cry.
People run for their lives
and try to find safety
among trees and rocks.
Every town is empty.
30Jerusalem, your land
has been wiped out.
But you act like a prostitute
and try to win back your lovers,
who now hate you.
You can put on a red dress,
gold jewelry, and eye shadow,
but it's no use—
your lovers are out to kill you!
31I heard groaning and crying.
Was it a woman giving birth
to her first child?
No, it was Jerusalem,
gasping for breath
and begging for help.
“I'm dying!” she said.
“They have murdered me.”
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Jeremiah 4: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Yirmeyah 4
4
1If thou wilt make teshuvah, O Yisroel, saith Hashem, return unto Me; and if thou wilt put away thine shikkutzim (abominations) out of My sight, then shalt thou not be moved.#4:1 to wander
2And thou shalt swear, Chai Hashem, in emes, in mishpat, and in tzedakah; and the Goyim shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him shall they glory.
3For thus saith Hashem to Ish Yehudah and Yerushalayim, Break up your unplowed ground, and sow not among kotzim (thorns).
4Circumcise yourselves to Hashem, and take the mohel knife to the arelot of your levav, ye Ish Yehudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim: lest My fury break out like eish, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.
5Declare ye in Yehudah, and publish in Yerushalayim; and say, Blow ye the shofar in HaAretz. Cry out, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
6Raise up a nes (a banner, a flag pointing to the place of refuge) over Tziyon; take refuge, delay not; for I will bring ra'ah (evil, disaster) from the tzafon (north), and shever gadol (great destruction).
7The aryeh (lion) is come up from his thicket, and the Mashkhit Goyim (Destroyer of the Nations),#4:7 i.e., Babylon is on his way, he is gone forth from his place to make thy eretz desolate; and thy cities shall be made to lie in ruins, without an inhabitant.
8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the charon af Hashem is not turned away from us.
9And it shall come to pass at that day, saith Hashem, that the lev HaMelech shall be disheartened, and the lev hasarim; and the kohanim shall be horror-struck, and the nevi'im dumbfounded.
10Then said I, Adonoi Hashem! Surely Thou hast greatly misled HaAm HaZeh and Yerushalayim, saying, Shalom yeheyeh lachem (Ye shall have shalom); whereas the cherev is near unto the nefesh.
11At that time shall it be told HaAm HaZeh and Yerushalayim, A ruach tzach (a dry wind, sirocco) from the high places in the midbar toward the Bat Ami,#4:11 i.e., Yisroel not to winnow, nor to cleanse,
12Even a ruach maleh (strong wind) from those places shall come from Me; now also I will pronounce mishpatim against them.
13Hinei, he#4:13 the approaching foe shall come up like ananim (clouds), and his merkavot shall be like the whirlwind; his susim are swifter than nesharim (eagles). Oy lanu! (Woe unto us!) For we are ruined.
14O Yerushalayim, wash thine lev from rah, that thou mayest be saved. Ad mosai (how long, how much longer) shall thy sinful machsh'vot lodge within thee?
15For a kol (voice) declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil tidings from Mt Ephrayim.
16Tell the Goyim; hinei, spread the news to Yerushalayim, that notzrim (besiegers) come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Yehudah.
17As shomrim of a sadeh, they are against her all around; because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith Hashem.
18Thy derech and thy deeds have brought these things upon thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is mar (bitter), for it hath touched upon thine lev.
19My innards, my innards! I am pained at my very lev; my lev is pounding in me; I cannot keep silent, because thou hast heard, O my nefesh, the kol shofar (sound of the shofar), the teru'at milchamah (battle alarm of war).
20Shever (destruction) follows after shever; for the whole land lies in ruins; suddenly are my ohalim destroyed, and my canopies rega.
21Ad mosai (how long) shall I see the nes (banner), and hear the kol shofar?
22For Ami is foolish, they have not known Me; they are stupid banim, and they have no understanding; they are chachamim to do evil, but to do good they have no da'as.
23I beheld ha'aretz, and, hinei, it was tohu vavohu;#4:23 Gn 1:2 and HaShomayim — there was no ohr.
24I beheld the mountains, and, hinei, they quaked, and all the hills had crumbled.
25I beheld, and, hinei, there was no adam, and kol oph HaShomayim fled away.
26I beheld, and, hinei, the carmel was a midbar, and all the cities thereof lay in ruins before Hashem, before the charon af Hashem.
27For thus hath Hashem said, A wasteland shall be kol HaAretz; yet I will not make a complete end of it.
28For this reason HaAretz shall mourn, and HaShomayim above turn black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not relent, neither will I turn back from it.
29Kol HaIr shall flee at the noise of the parash and the romeh keshet (the archer); they shall run into thickets, and climb up among the kefim (rocks); every city shall be deserted, and not an ish dwell therein.
30And thou, O plundered one,#4:30 Jerusalem what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with jewelry of zahav, though thou paintest thy eyes with cosmetics, in vain thou adornest thyself; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy nefesh.
31For I have heard a kol (outcry) like that of a woman in travail, and in labor pain like that of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of Bat Tziyon, that waileth, that stretcheth out her hands, saying, Oy nah li (Woe is me now)! for my nefesh is weary because of murderers.
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.