Jeremiah 4
1 Yahweh says, “You Israeli [people], come back to me! If you get rid of those detestable idols and do not turn away from me [again],
Israel, if thou turnest ayen, seith the Lord, turne thou to me; if thou takist awei thin offendyngis fro my face, thou schalt not be mouyd.
2 and if you declare, ‘Just as surely as Yahweh lives, what he says is true,’ and if you [start to] always say what is true and act justly/fairly and righteously, then the [people in the other] nations [of the world] will request that I bless them [as I have blessed you], and they will [all come and] honor/praise me.”
And thou schalt swere, The Lord lyueth, in treuthe and in doom and in riytfulnesse; and alle folkis schulen blesse hym, and schulen preise hym.
3 This is what Yahweh says to the people of Jerusalem and [the other cities in] Judah: “[Prepare yourselves to receive my messages] like farmers plow up hard ground [in order that they can plant seed in it]. Just as farmers do not [waste good seed by] sowing seeds among thorny plants, [I do not want to waste my time telling you messages that you are not ready to receive].
For the Lord God seith these thingis to a man of Juda and to a dwellere of Jerusalem, Make ye newe to you a lond tilid of the newe, and nyle ye sowe on thornes.
4 Purify your inner beings and your minds for me. If you do not do that, my being angry with you [MTY] because of [all] the sins that you have committed will be like a fire that will be impossible to extinguish.”
Men of Juda, and dwelleris of Jerusalem, be ye circumcidid to the Lord, and do ye awey the filthis of youre hertis; lest perauenture myn indignacioun go out as fier, and be kyndlid, and noon be that quenche, for the malice of youre thouytis.
5 “Declare this [DOU] to [all the people in] Jerusalem and [the rest of] Judea; blow the trumpets everywhere in the land [to warn the people]. Tell them that they should flee to the cities that have high walls around them.
Telle ye in Juda, and make ye herd in Jerusalem; speke ye, and synge ye with a trumpe in the lond; crye ye strongli, and seie ye, Be ye gaderid togidere, and entre we in to stronge citees.
6 Shout to the people of Jerusalem, ‘Run away [now]! Do not delay, because I am about to cause you to experience a terrible disaster [DOU] that will come from the north.
Reise ye a signe in Sion, coumforte ye, and nyle ye stonde; for Y bringe yuel fro the north, and a greet sorewe.
7 [An army] that has destroyed [many] nations will attack you [like] [MET] a lion that comes out of its den [to attack other animals]. [The soldiers of that army] have taken down their tents and they are ready to march toward your land. They will destroy your cities and leave them without any people still living in them.’
A lioun schal `rise vp fro his denne, and the robbere of folkis schal reise hym silf. He is goon out of his place, to sette thi lond in to wildirnesse; thi citees schulen be distried, abidynge stille with out dwellere.
8 So, put on sackcloth/rough clothes and weep and beat your chests [to show that you are very sorry for what you have done], because Yahweh is still very angry with us.
On this thing girde you with heiris; weile ye, and yelle, for the wraththe of the strong veniaunce of the Lord is not turned awei fro you.
9 Yahweh said that at the time [he punishes you], the King of Judah and [all his] officials will be very afraid. The priests and the prophets will be terrified.
And it schal be, in that dai, seith the Lord, the herte of the king schal perische, and the herte of princis; and the prestis schulen wondre, and the prophetis schulen be astonyed.
10 Then I replied, “Yahweh [my] God, you completely deceived the people by telling them that there would be peace in Jerusalem, but now [our enemies] [PRS] are ready to slaughter us with their swords!”
And Y seide, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therfor whether thou hast disseyued this puple and Jerusalem, seiynge, Pees schal be to you, and lo! a swerd is comun `til to the soule?
11 When that happens, [Yahweh] will say to the people of Jerusalem, [“A huge army will come to attack you]. They will not [be like a gentle breeze that] separates wheat from chaff. [They will be like] a very hot wind [that blows in] from the desert [MET].
In that tyme it schal be seide to this puple and to Jerusalem, A brennynge wynd in the weies that ben in desert, ben the weies of the douytir of my puple, not to wyndewe, and not to purge.
12 [They will be like] [MET] a strong blast that I will send. Now I am declaring that I will punish/destroy you.”
A spirit ful of hem schal come to me; and now Y, but Y schal speke my domes with hem.
13 [Our enemies] are about to rush down on us; their chariots are like [SIM] whirlwinds. Their horses are faster than eagles. It will be terrible for us!
Lo! he schal stie as a cloude, and hise charis as a tempest; hise horsis ben swifter than eglis; wo to vs, for we ben distried.
14 [You people of] Jerusalem [APO], purify your hearts/inner beings, in order that Yahweh will rescue you. How long will you continue to think about [doing] evil things?
Thou Jerusalem, waische thin herte fro malice, that thou be maad saaf. Hou long schulen noiful thouytis dwelle in thee?
15 From Dan [city in the far north] to the hills of Ephraim [a few miles/kilometers north of Jerusalem] messengers are proclaiming that disasters are coming.
For whi the vois of a tellere fro Dan, and makynge knowun an idol fro the hil of Effraym.
16 Tell this to the [people in other] nations [but also] announce it in Jerusalem: [Yahweh says], “An army is coming to Jerusalem from far away; they will shout [a battle-cry] against the cities in Judah.
Reise, ye folkis; lo! it is herd in Jerusalem that keperis ben comun fro a fer lond, and yyuen her vois on the citees of Juda.
17 They will set up tents around Jerusalem like people set up temporary shelters [SIM] around a field [at harvest time]. That will happen because the people of Judah have rebelled against me.
As the keperis of feeldis thei ben maad on it in cumpas; for it stiride me to wrathfulnesse, seith the Lord.
18 You will be punished very severely; it will [be as though a sword] has stabbed your inner beings. But you are causing those things to happen to you because of the evil things that you have done.”
Thi weyes and thi thouytis han maad this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bittir, for it touchide thin herte.
19 I am extremely anguished/sad; the pain in my inner being is very severe. My heart beats wildly. But I cannot remain silent because I have heard [our enemies] blowing their trumpets to announce that the battle [against Judah will start immediately].
Mi wombe akith, my wombe akith; the wittis of myn herte ben disturblid in me. Y schal not be stille, for my soule herde the vois of a trumpe, the cry of batel.
20 Disasters will occur one after another until the whole land is ruined. Suddenly [all] our tents will be destroyed; [even] the curtains [inside the tents] will be ripped apart.
Sorewe is clepid on sorewe, and al the lond is distried; my tabernaclis ben wastid sudeynli, my skynnes ben wastid sudeynli.
21 How long will this battle continue? How long will I continue to see the enemy battle flags and hear the sound of their trumpets being blown?
Hou longe schal Y se hem that fleen, schal Y here the vois of a clarioun?
22 [Yahweh says], “My people are [very] foolish! They do not have a relationship with me. They are [like] [MET] stupid children who do not understand [anything]. They very cleverly do what is wrong, but they do not know how to do what is good.”
For my fonned puple knew not me; thei ben vnwise sones, and cowardis; thei ben wise to do yuels, but thei kouden not do wel.
23 [God gave me a vision in which] I saw that the earth was barren and without form. I looked at the sky, and there was no light there.
Y bihelde the lond, and lo! it was void, and nouyt; and Y bihelde heuenes, and no liyt was in tho.
24 I looked at the mountains and hills, and they shook and moved from side to side.
Y siy munteyns, and lo! tho weren mouyd, and all litle hillis weren disturblid.
25 I looked and saw that there were no [more] people, and all the birds had flown away.
Y lokide, and no man was, and ech brid of heuene was gon a wey.
26 I looked and saw that the fields that previously were fertile had become a desert. The cities were all ruined; they had all been destroyed by Yahweh because he was extremely angry.
Y bihelde, and lo! Carmele is forsakun, and alle citees therof ben distried fro the face of the Lord, and fro the face of the ire of his strong veniaunce.
27 This is what Yahweh is saying: “The entire land [of Judah] will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.
For the Lord seith these thingis, Al the lond schal be forsakun, but netheles Y schal not make an endyng.
28 I will do to my people what I said that I would do, and I will not change my mind. So [when that happens, it will be as though] the earth will mourn and the sky will become very dark.”
The erthe schal mourne, and heuenys aboue schulen make sorewe, for that Y spak; Y thouyte, and it repentide not me, nether Y am turned awei fro it.
29 [When the people hear] the sound of the [enemy] army marching, [they will be terrified as] they flee from their cities. Some of them will find places to hide in the bushes, and others will run toward the mountains/hills [to escape being killed by their enemies]. All the cities [in Judah] will be abandoned; not one person will remain in them.
Ech citee fledde fro the vois of a knyyt, and of a man schetynge an arowe; thei entriden in to hard places, and stieden in to roochis of stoon; alle citees ben forsakun, and no man dwellith in tho.
30 So you who will surely be destroyed, [why are you doing the things that you are doing now]? Why are you wearing beautiful clothes and jewelry? Why are you putting paint around your eyes? Doing those things will not help you, because the people [in other countries that you think] love you [actually] despise you, and they will try to kill you.
But what schalt thou `destried do? Whanne thou schalt clothe thee with reed scarlet, whanne thou schalt be ourned with a goldun broche, and schalt anoynte thin iyen with wommans oynement, thou schalt be araied in veyn; thi louyeris han dispisid thee, thei schulen seke thi soule.
31 [It is as though] I already hear [the people in Jerusalem] crying very loudly, like [SIM] a woman cries when she is giving birth to her first child; she gasps for breath and pleads for someone to help her. [It is as though Jerusalem] is crying, “Something terrible is happening to me! They are about to murder me!”
For Y herd a vois as of a womman trauelynge of child, the angwischis as of a womman childynge; the vois of the douyter of Sion among hem that dien, and spreden abrood her hondis; Wo to me, for my soule failide for hem that ben slayn.
