Jeremiah 4
4
1This message is from the Lord.
“Israel, if you want to come back,
then come back to me.
Throw away your idols.
Don’t wander farther away from me.
2If you do these things, you will be able to use my name to make a promise.
You will be able to say, ‘As the Lord lives.’
You will be able to use these words in a truthful, honest, and right way.
If you do these things, the nations will be blessed by the Lord.
They will brag about what the Lord has done.”
3This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Your fields have not been plowed.
Plow those fields!
Don’t plant seeds among the thorns.
4Become the Lord’s people.
Change your hearts.#4:4 Change your hearts Literally, “Be circumcised to the Lord. Cut away the foreskin of your hearts.” See “circumcise, circumcision” in the Word List. Jeremiah is saying that real circumcision must be from inside a person’s heart (mind).
Men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, if you don’t change,
then I will become very angry.
My anger will spread fast like a fire,
and it will burn you up.
No one will be able to put out that fire
because of the evil you have done.”
Disaster From the North
5“Give this message to the people of Judah:
Tell everyone in the city of Jerusalem:
‘Blow the trumpet all over the country.’
Shout out loud and say,
‘Come together!
Let us all escape to the strong cities for protection.’
6Raise the signal flag toward Zion.
Run for your lives! Don’t wait!
Do this because I am bringing disaster from the north.#4:6 north The Babylonian army came from this direction to attack Judah. Armies from countries north and east of Israel often came this way to attack Judah and Israel.
I am bringing terrible destruction.”
7A lion has come out of his cave.
A destroyer of nations has begun to march.
He has left his home to destroy your land.
Your towns will be destroyed.
There will be no one left to live in them.
8The Lord is angry with us,
so put on sackcloth and cry out loud!
9The Lord says, “When this happens,
the king and his officers will lose their courage.
The priests will be filled with fear,
and the prophets will be shocked.”
10Then I, Jeremiah, said, “Lord GOD, you have tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said to them, ‘You will have peace.’ But now the sword is pointing at their throats!”
11At that time this message will be given
to the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
“A hot wind blows from the bare hills.
It comes from the desert to my people.
It is not like the gentle wind that is used
to separate the grain from the chaff.
12It is a stronger wind than that,
and it comes from me.
Now I will announce my judgment
against the people of Judah.”
13Look! The enemy rises up like a cloud.
His chariots look like a windstorm.
His horses are faster than eagles.
It will be very bad for us!
We are ruined!
14People of Jerusalem,
wash the evil from your hearts.
Make your hearts pure so that you can be saved.
Don’t continue making evil plans.
15Listen! The voice of a messenger
from the land of Dan#4:15 land of Dan The people from the tribe of Dan lived near the border in the northern part of Israel. They would be the first to be attacked by an enemy from the north. is speaking.
Someone is bringing bad news
from the hill country of Ephraim#4:15 hill country of Ephraim This was the central part of the land that had been the northern kingdom of Israel.:
16“Report it to this nation.#4:16 “Report … nation The Hebrew text here is hard to understand.
Spread the news to the people in Jerusalem.
Enemies are coming from a faraway country.
They are shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.
17The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem
like men guarding a field.
Judah, you turned against me,
so the enemy is coming against you.”
This message is from the Lord.
18“The way you lived and the things you did
brought this trouble to you.
It is your evil that made your life so hard.
Your evil life brought the pain that hurts deep in your heart.”
Jeremiah’s Cry
19My sadness and worry is making my stomach hurt.
I am bent over in pain.
I am so afraid.
My heart is pounding inside me.
I cannot keep quiet, because I have heard the trumpet blow.
The trumpet is calling the army to war.
20Disaster follows disaster.
The whole country is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed.
My curtains are torn down!
21How long must I see the war flags?
How long must I hear the war trumpets?
22The Lord said, “My people are foolish.
They don’t know me.
They are stupid children.
They don’t understand.
They are skillful at doing evil,
but they don’t know how to do good.”
Disaster Is Coming
23I looked at the earth.
It was empty; there was nothing on it.
I looked at the sky,
and its light was gone.#4:23 the earth … gone Jeremiah is comparing his country to the time before people were put on the earth. See Gen. 1:1.
24I looked at the mountains,
and they were shaking.
All the hills were trembling.
25I looked, but there were no people.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
26I looked, and the good land had become a desert.
All the cities in that land were destroyed
by the Lord and his great anger.
27This is what the Lord says:
“The whole country will be ruined,
but I will not completely destroy the land.
28So the people in the land will cry for the dead.
The sky will grow dark.
I have spoken and will not change.
I have made a decision, and I will not change my mind.”
29The people of Judah will hear the sound
of the horse soldiers and the archers,
and the people will run away!
Some of them will hide in caves;#4:29 hide in caves This is from the ancient Greek version.
some will hide in the bushes;
some will climb up into the rocks.
All the cities of Judah will be empty.
No one will live in them.
30Judah, you have been destroyed.
So what are you doing now?
Why are you putting on your best red dress?
Why are you putting on your gold jewelry?
Why are you putting on your eye makeup?
You make yourself beautiful,
but it is a waste of time.
Your lovers hate you.
They are trying to kill you.
31I hear a cry like a woman in labor,
a scream like a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of daughter Zion.#4:31 daughter Zion Another name for Jerusalem. See “Zion” in the Word List.
She is lifting her hands in prayer, saying,
“Oh! I am about to faint!
Murderers are all around me!”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Jeremias (Jeremiah) 4
4
1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumbling-blocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved.
2And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth in truth and in judgement and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him and shall praise him.
3For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns.
4Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire and burn, and there be none that can quench it: because of the wickedness of your thoughts.
5Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and sound with the trumpet in the land. Cry aloud, and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.
6Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.
7The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place to make thy land desolate. Thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant.
8For this, gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes: and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed
10And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace? And, Behold, the sword reacheth even to the soul.
11At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan nor to cleanse.
12A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them.
13Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are laid waste!
14Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst be saved. How long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee?
15For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from mount Ephraim.
16Say ye to the nations: Behold, it is heard in Jerusalem that guards are coming from a far country and give out their voice against the cities of Juda.
17They are set round about her, as keepers of fields: because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.
18Thy ways and thy devices have brought these things upon thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it hath touched thy heart.
19My bowels, my bowels, are in pain, the senses of my heart are troubled within me. I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle.
20Destruction upon destruction is called for, and all the earth is laid waste: my tents are destroyed on a sudden and my pavilions in a moment.
21How long shall I see men fleeing away? How long shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?
22For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and senseless children. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
23I beheld the earth, and lo it was void and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them.
24I looked upon the mountains, and, behold, they trembled: and all the hills were troubled.
25I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air were gone.
26I looked, and, behold, Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord and at the presence of the wrath of his indignation.
27For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I will not utterly destroy.
28The earth shall mourn, and the heavens shall lament from above: because I have spoken, I have purposed and I have not repented, neither am I turned away from it.
29At the voice of the horsemen and the archers, all the city is fled away: they have entered into thickets and have climbed up the rocks. All the cities are forsaken, and there dwelleth not a man in them.
30But when thou art spoiled, what wilt though do? Though thou clothest with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life.
31For I have heard the voice as of a woman in travail, anguishes as of a woman in labor of a child. The voice of the daughter of Sion, dying away, spreading her hands: Woe is me, for my soul hath fainted because of them that are slain.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.