耶和华说:“以色列啊,
如果你回转归向我,
回转归向我,
从我眼前除掉可憎的神像,
不再离开我;
如果你本着诚实、正直、公义,
凭永活的耶和华起誓,
你必成为万国的祝福,
得到他们的尊敬[a]。”
耶和华对犹大人和耶路撒冷人说:
“要开垦你们的荒地,
不要在荆棘中撒种。
你们要自行割礼,
除掉心中的污垢,归向耶和华。
不然,我必因你们的恶行而发烈怒,如火燃烧,
无人能够扑灭。

“你们要在犹大和耶路撒冷宣告,
‘要在全国吹起号角’,高声呼喊,
‘要集合起来,
我们要逃进坚城。’
你们要向锡安举起旗帜,
赶快逃亡,不要迟延,
因为我要从北方降下灾祸,
大肆毁灭。”
毁灭列国者已发起攻击,
如狮子冲出巢穴,
要使你们的土地荒凉,
城邑沦为废墟,无人居住。
为此,你们要腰束麻布,
嚎啕大哭,
因为耶和华向我们发的烈怒还没有止息。

耶和华说:“到那天,君王和官长必丧胆,祭司和先知必惊骇。” 10 我说:“唉!主耶和华啊,你完全欺骗了这群百姓和耶路撒冷人,因为你说,‘你们会安享太平。’其实剑锋已指着他们的咽喉了。”

11 那时,耶和华必对这群百姓和耶路撒冷人说:“一阵热风从荒野光秃的山头吹向我的子民,不是为扬场、吹净糠秕。 12 那是我发出的一阵强风。现在我要宣告我对他们的审判。”

13 看啊,仇敌必如云涌来,
他的战车快如旋风,
他的战马比飞鹰还快。
我们有祸了!
我们灭亡了!
14 耶路撒冷啊,
要洗去你内心的邪恶,
这样你才能得救。
你心怀恶念要到何时呢?
15 从但传来消息,
从以法莲山区报出恶讯。
16 耶和华说:“你们去通知列国,
向耶路撒冷宣告,
‘围攻的人从远方来,
向犹大的城邑高声喊杀,
17 像看守田园一样包围耶路撒冷,
因为耶路撒冷背叛了我。’
这是耶和华说的。
18 你的所作所为给你招致这灾祸,
是你自食恶果,你会痛彻心肺!”

19 我的心啊,我的心啊!
我伤心欲绝,烦躁不安。
我无法保持缄默,
因为我听见了号角声和呐喊声。
20 恶讯频传,山河破碎,
我的帐篷忽然倒塌,
幔子顷刻破裂。
21 我还要看这旌旗、
听这号声到何时呢?
22 耶和华说:“我的子民愚顽,
不认识我,
是蒙昧无知的儿女,
只知行恶,不知行善。”
23 我俯瞰大地,
一片空虚混沌;
我仰望天空,毫无亮光。
24 我眺望群山,大山在颤抖,
小山在摇晃。
25 我四下观看,只见杳无人烟,
飞鸟绝迹。
26 我四下观看,只见良田变荒野,
城邑都在耶和华的烈怒下沦为废墟。
27 耶和华说:“遍地将要荒凉,
然而不会被我彻底毁灭。
28 因此,地要悲哀,
天要昏暗,
因为我言出必行,
决不反悔。”
29 各城的人听到骑兵和弓箭手的呐喊,
都纷纷逃命。
有的跑入丛林,有的爬进岩洞。
各城荒弃,无人居住。
30 你这荒凉的城啊!
你在做什么?
纵然你穿上红袍,
戴上金饰,
描眉画眼,
又有什么用呢?
你的情人藐视你,
要杀害你。
31 我听见好像妇人分娩时的喊叫声,
好像妇人生头胎时的痛苦呻吟。
那是锡安城[b]的喊叫声,
她在喘息,伸出双手说:
“噢!我有祸了,
我要死在杀戮者手上了。”

Footnotes

  1. 4:2 你必成为万国的祝福,得到他们的尊敬”或译“万国必得到耶和华的祝福,并以祂为荣”。
  2. 4:31 ”希伯来文是“女子”,可能是对锡安的昵称,下同6:223

Blessing or Curse

If you return,[a] Israel—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will return to Me,(A)
if you remove your detestable idols(B)
from My presence
and do not waver,
then you can swear, “As the Lord lives,”(C)
in truth,(D) in justice, and in righteousness,(E)
then the nations will be blessed[b] by Him(F)
and will pride themselves in Him.(G)

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

Break up the unplowed ground;(H)
do not sow among the thorns.(I)
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;
remove the foreskin of your hearts,(J)
men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.
Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to extinguish it(K)
because of your evil deeds.

Judgment from the North

Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.(L)
Cry out loudly and say:
Assemble yourselves,
and let’s flee to the fortified cities.
Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.(M)
Run for cover! Don’t stand still!
For I am bringing disaster from the north—
a great destruction.(N)
A lion has gone up from his thicket;(O)
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.(P)
Because of this, put on sackcloth;
mourn and wail,(Q)
for the Lord’s burning anger(R)
has not turned away from us.

“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.”

10 I said, “Oh no, Lord God, You have certainly deceived(S) this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’(T) while a sword is at[c] our throats.”

11 “At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind(U) blows from the barren heights in the wilderness on the way to My dear[d] people. It comes not to winnow or to sift; 12 a wind too strong for this comes at My call.[e] Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.’”(V)

13 Look, he advances like clouds;(W)
his chariots are like a storm.(X)
His horses are swifter than eagles.(Y)
Woe to us, for we are ruined!(Z)
14 Wash the evil from your heart,(AA) Jerusalem,
so that you will be delivered.
How long will you harbor
malicious thoughts within you?(AB)
15 For a voice announces from Dan,
proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.
16 Warn the nations: Look!
Proclaim to Jerusalem:
Those who besiege are coming
from a distant land;(AC)
they raise their voices
against the cities of Judah.
17 They have her surrounded(AD)
like those who guard a field,
because she has rebelled against Me.(AE)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
18 Your way of life and your actions
have brought this on you.(AF)
This is your punishment. It is very bitter,
because it has reached your heart!

Jeremiah’s Lament

19 My anguish, my anguish![f] I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in[g] my heart!(AG)
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
20 Disaster after disaster(AH) is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21 How 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.(AI)
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”(AJ)

23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.(AK)
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.(AL)
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(AM)
all the hills shook.
25 I looked, and no man was left;(AN)
all the birds of the sky had fled.(AO)
26 I looked, and the fertile field(AP) was a wilderness.(AQ)
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and His burning anger.(AR)

27 For this is what the Lord says:

The whole land will be a desolation,(AS)
but I will not finish it off.(AT)
28 Because of this, the earth will mourn;(AU)
the skies above will grow dark.(AV)
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.(AW)

29 Every city flees(AX)
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.(AY)
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
30 And you, devastated one, what are you doing(AZ)
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?(BA)
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;(BB)
they want to take your life.(BC)
31 I hear a cry like a woman in labor,(BD)
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:(BE)
Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 4:1 Or Repent
  2. Jeremiah 4:2 Or will bless themselves
  3. Jeremiah 4:10 Lit sword touches
  4. Jeremiah 4:11 Lit to the daughter of My
  5. Jeremiah 4:12 Lit comes for Me
  6. Jeremiah 4:19 Lit My inner parts, my inner parts
  7. Jeremiah 4:19 Lit the walls of