Jeremiah 4

1 If you will return O Israel - [the] utterance of Yahweh to me you will return and if you will remove detestable things your from before me and not you will waver.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, yea, return unto Me; and if thou wilt put away thy detestable things out of My sight, and wilt not waver;

2 And you will swear [by] [the] life of Yahweh in faithfulness in justice and in righteousness and they will bless themselves by him nations and in him they will boast.

And wilt swear: 'As the LORD liveth' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; then shall the nations bless themselves by Him, and in Him shall they glory.

3 For thus - he says Yahweh to [the] man of Judah and to Jerusalem plow of you unplowed ground and may not you sow to thorns.

For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up for you a fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh and remove [the] foreskins of heart your O man of Judah and [the] inhabitants of Jerusalem lest it should go forth like fire rage my and it will burn and there not [will be one who] extinguishes because of [the] wickedness of deeds your.

Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest My fury go forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

5 Declare in Judah and in Jerusalem make a proclamation and say (blow *QK) a trumpet in the land call out fill and say gather yourselves so let us go to [the] cities of fortification.

Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem, and say: 'Blow ye the horn in the land'; cry aloud and say: 'Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.'

6 Lift up a standard Zion towards take refuge may not you stand still for calamity I [am] about to bring from [the] north and destruction great.

Set up a standard toward Zion; put yourselves under covert, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

7 It has gone up a lion from thicket its and a destroyer of nations he has set out he has gone out from place his to make land your into a waste cities your they will fall in ruins from not inhabitant.

A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations is set out, gone forth from his place; to make thy land desolate, that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.

8 On this gird yourself sackcloth mourn and wail for not it has turned back [the] burning of [the] anger of Yahweh from us.

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

9 And it will be on the day that [the] utterance of Yahweh it will perish [the] heart of the king and [the] heart of the officials and they will be appalled the priests and the prophets they will be astounded.

And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall fail, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder.

10 And I said alas! - O Lord Yahweh truly certainly you have deceived the people this and Jerusalem saying peace it will belong to you and it will reach a sword to the throat.

Then said I: 'Ah, Lord GOD! surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.'

11 At the time that it will be said to the people this and to Jerusalem a wind scorching bare heights in the wilderness [will be] [the] direction of [the] daughter of people my not to winnow and not to cleanse.

At that time shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem; A hot wind of the high hills in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not to fan, nor to cleanse;

12 A wind [too] full for these [things] it will come for me now also I I will speak judgments with them.

A wind too strong for this shall come for Me; now will I also utter judgments against them.

13 There! - like clouds he is going up and like the storm-wind chariots his they are swift more than eagles horses his woe! to us for we are devastated.

Behold, he cometh up as clouds, and his chariots are as the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. — 'Woe unto us! for we are undone.' —

14 Wash from evil heart your O Jerusalem so that you may be saved until when? will it remain in inner being your [the] thoughts of wickedness your.

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy baleful thoughts lodge within thee?

15 For a voice [is] declaring from Dan and [is] proclaiming trouble from [the] hill country of Ephraim.

For hark! one declareth from Dan, and announceth calamity from the hills of Ephraim:

16 Make known to the nations here! proclaim to Jerusalem besiegers [are] coming from [the] land of distance and they have given forth on [the] cities of Judah voice their.

'Make ye mention to the nations: Behold — publish concerning Jerusalem — watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.'

17 Like [those who] guard a field they are on it from round about for me it has been rebellious against [the] utterance of Yahweh.

As keepers of a field are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against Me, saith the LORD.

18 Conduct your and deeds your they have brought about these [things] to you this [is] wickedness your for [it is] bitter for it has reached to heart your.

Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; yea, it is bitter, yea, it reacheth unto thy heart.

19 Inward parts my - inward parts my - (I am waiting *QK) [the] walls of heart my [is] in turmoil to me heart my not I will keep silent for [the] sound of a trumpet (you have heard *QK) O self my [the] shout of battle.

My bowels, my bowels! I writhe in pain! The chambers of my heart! My heart moaneth within me! I cannot hold my peace! because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the horn, the alarm of war.

20 Destruction to destruction it has been proclaimed for it has been devastated all the land suddenly they have been devastated tents my a moment tent curtains my.

Destruction followeth upon destruction, for the whole land is spoiled; suddenly are my tents spoiled, my curtains in a moment.

21 Until when? will I see a standard will I hear [the] sound of a trumpet.

How long shall I see the standard, shall I hear the sound of the horn?

22 For - [is] a fool people my me not they know [are] children fools they and not [are] having understanding they [are] skillful they to do evil and to do good not they know.

For My people is foolish, they know Me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I looked at the earth and there! [it was] formlessness and emptiness and to the heavens and there not [was] light their.

I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I looked at the mountains and there! [they were] quaking and all the hills they shook to and fro.

I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro.

25 I looked and there! there not [was] humankind and every bird of the heavens they had fled.

I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I looked and there! the garden-land [was] wilderness and all cities its they had been pulled down from before Yahweh from before [the] burning of anger his.

I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and before His fierce anger.

27 For thus he says Yahweh a desolation it will be all the earth and complete destruction not I will make.

For thus saith the LORD: The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

28 On this it will mourn the earth and they will be dark the heavens above on for I have spoken I have resolved and not I have repented and not I will turn back from it.

For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.

29 From [the] sound of a horseman and a shooter of a bow [is] fleeing every city people will go in the thickets and on the rocks people will go up every city [is] abandoned and there not [is] dwelling in them anyone.

For the noise of the horsemen and bowmen the whole city fleeth; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.

30 (And you *QK) O devastated [one] what? are you doing that you are dressing scarlet that you ornament yourself ornament[s] of gold that you tear open with eye-paint eyes your for vanity you beautify yourself they have rejected you lovers life your they seek.

And thou, that art spoiled, what doest thou, that thou clothest thyself with scarlet, that thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, that thou enlargest thine eyes with paint? In vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

31 For a sound like a sick [woman] I have heard distress like a [woman] bearing a first child [the] sound of [the] daughter of Zion she is gasping for breath she is spreading out hands her woe! please to me for it is weary self my to murderers.

For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands: 'Woe is me, now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers.'