Jeremiah 4
Expanded Bible
4 “If you ·will [want to] return, Israel,
then return to me,” says the Lord.
“If you will ·throw away [turn from] your abominations [C the idols],
then ·don’t wander away from me [no longer go astray].
2 If you say when you ·make a promise [swear],
‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
and you can say it in a truthful, ·honest [just], and ·right [righteous] way,
then the nations will be blessed by him,
and they will ·praise him for what he has done [boast in him].”
3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:
“Plow your unplowed fields [C a metaphor for changing their spiritual condition],
and don’t ·plant seeds [sow] among thorns.
4 ·Give yourselves to the service of [L Circumcise yourself to] the Lord [C a metaphor for obedience],
and ·decide to obey him [L remove the foreskin of your heart; 9:25; Deut. 10:16],
people of Judah and ·people [L inhabitants] of Jerusalem.
If you don’t, my anger will ·spread among you [flare/blaze up] like a fire,
and no one will be able to ·put it out [quench it],
because of the evil you have done.
Trouble from the North
5 “·Announce this message [Declare; Shout; L Let it be heard] in Judah and ·say [proclaim] it in Jerusalem:
‘Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] throughout the ·country [land]!’
Shout out loud and say,
‘·Come [L Gather] together!
Let’s all ·escape [L go] to the ·strong, walled [fortified] cities!’
6 Raise the ·signal flag [banner; C military insignia] toward ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]!
·Run for your lives [Take refuge/shelter], and don’t ·wait [delay],
because I am bringing ·disaster [trouble] from the north [C the Babylonians; 1:13–14]
There will be terrible destruction.”
7 A lion has come out of his ·den [lair; thicket; 2:15];
a destroyer of nations has begun to march.
He has left his ·home [L place]
to ·destroy [L set destruction in] your land.
Your towns will be ·destroyed [devastated]
with no one left to live in them.
8 So put on ·rough cloth [sackcloth; burlap; C mourning clothes],
·show how sad you are [lament; mourn], and ·cry loudly [wail].
The ·terrible [fierce] anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.
9 “·When this happens [L In that day],” says the Lord,
“the ·king and officers will lose their courage [L heart of king and officers/princes will fail].
The priests will be ·terribly afraid [desolate],
and the prophets will be ·shocked [stunned; appalled]!”
10 Then I said, [“L Aha,] Lord God, you have ·tricked [deceived] ·the people of Judah [L this people] and Jerusalem. You said, ‘You will have peace,’ but now the sword ·is pointing at [L touches] our ·throats [or very lives]!”
11 At that time ·this message will be given [L it will be said] to Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hilltops [3:2] of the ·desert [wilderness] toward the ·Lord’s [L daughter of my] people. ·It is not a gentle wind to separate grain from chaff [L …not for winnowing or for cleansing]. 12 I feel a stronger wind than that. Now even I will announce judgments against ·the people of Judah [L them].”
13 Look! ·The enemy [L He] rises up like a cloud,
and his chariots come like a ·tornado [whirlwind].
His horses are faster than eagles.
·How terrible it will be for [Woe to] us! We are ·ruined [devastated]!
14 People of Jerusalem, ·clean [wash] the evil from your hearts so that you can be ·saved [rescued; 2:22; Ps. 51:7].
·Don’t continue making [L How long will you lodge in your heart/mind] evil plans.
15 A voice from Dan makes an announcement
and ·brings bad news [L proclaims disaster/trouble] from the mountains of Ephraim.
16 “Report this to the nations.
·Spread this news [L Make it heard] in Jerusalem:
‘Invaders are coming from a faraway country [C Babylon],
shouting [C war cries] against the cities of Judah.
17 The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem as men guard a field,
because Judah ·turned [rebelled; transgressed] against me,’” says the Lord.
18 “·The way you have lived and acted [L Your path/way and your deeds]
has brought this trouble to you.
This is your ·punishment [trouble; disaster].
How ·terrible [bitter] it is!
·The pain stabs [L It reaches] your heart!”
Jeremiah’s Cry
19 Oh, ·how I hurt [my pain/anguish/L innards]! ·How I hurt [My pain/anguish/L innards]!
·I am bent over in pain [L My heart writhes].
Oh, the ·torture in [L walls of] my heart!
My heart is pounding inside me.
I cannot keep quiet,
because I have heard the sound of the ·trumpet [ram’s horn].
I have heard the shouts of war.
20 Disaster after disaster is reported;
the whole country has been ·destroyed [devastated].
My tents are ·destroyed [devastated] ·in only a moment [suddenly].
My curtains are torn down quickly.
21 How long must I look at the war flag?
How long must I listen to the ·war trumpet [L sound of the ram’s horn]?
22 The Lord says, “My people are ·foolish [stupid].
They do not know me.
They are stupid children;
they don’t understand.
They are ·skillful [wise] at doing evil,
but they don’t know how to do good.”
Disaster Is Coming
23 I looked at the earth,
and it ·had no form and was empty [was a formless void; Gen. 1:2].
I looked at the ·sky [L heavens],
and ·its light was gone [L there was no light].
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were shaking.
All the hills were ·trembling [rocking; reeling].
25 I looked, and there were no people.
Every bird in the ·sky [heavens] had ·flown away [L fled].
26 I looked, and the good, ·rich land [fertile land; land of plenty; orchards] had become a ·desert [wilderness].
All its towns had been destroyed
by the Lord and his great anger.
27 This is what the Lord says:
“All the land will be ruined,
but I will not ·completely destroy it [L make a complete end].
28 So the people in the land will ·cry loudly [mourn; wail],
and the ·sky [L heavens above] will grow dark [Is. 13:10; 34:4; Zech. 14:6; Mark 13:24–25],
because I have spoken and made a decision.
I will not change my mind; I will not turn back.”
29 At the sound of the horsemen and the archers,
all the people in the towns ·run away [flee].
They ·hide [L go] in the thick bushes
and climb up into the rocks.
All of the cities of Judah are ·empty [abandoned; forsaken];
no one lives in them.
30 You destroyed nation [C Judah], what are you doing?
Why do you put on ·scarlet [purple; C an expensive dress]
and decorate yourself with gold jewelry?
Why do you ·put color around your eyes [L enlarge your eyes with black eye paint]?
You make yourself beautiful, ·but it is all useless [in vain; without purpose].
Your lovers ·hate [despise; reject] you;
they ·want to kill you [L seek your life].
31 I hear a cry like a woman ·having a baby [writhing in labor],
·distress [trouble] like a woman having her first child.
It is the sound of ·Jerusalem [L the daughter of Zion; C the location of the Temple] gasping for breath.
She ·lifts [L spreads] her hands in prayer and says,
“·Oh! I am about to [Woe to me, for I am] faint
before my murderers!”
Jeremiah 4
Amplified Bible
Judah Threatened with Invasion
4 “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
“If you will return to Me,
And if you will put away your detestable things and remove your man-made gods from My sight,
And not stray or waver,
2
And if you swear [your oaths], ‘As the Lord lives,’
In truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they will glory.”
3 For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“Plow your uncultivated ground [for a season],
And do not sow among thorns.
4
“Circumcise (dedicate, sanctify) yourselves to the Lord
And remove the foreskin [sins] of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Or else My wrath will go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way]
And burn and there will be no one to quench it,
Because of the evil of your acts.”
5
Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6
“Raise a banner toward Zion [to mark the way for those seeking safety inside Jerusalem’s walls]!
Seek refuge, do not stand [immobile],
For I am bringing evil from the north (the army of Babylon),
And great destruction.
7
“A lion has left his lair,
And a destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone out from his place
To desolate your land;
Your cities will be in ruins
Without an inhabitant.
8
“For this reason, put on sackcloth [for mourning],
Lament (mourn with expressions of grief for the dead) and wail,
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord, “that the heart and courage of the king will fail (be paralyzed), and also the heart of the princes; the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded and horrified.”
10 Then I said, “[a]Alas, Lord God! Surely You have completely deceived and misled this people and Jerusalem, [for the prophets represented You as] saying [to Your people], ‘You will have peace,’ but [in fact] a sword reaches to their throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but] 12 a wind too strong and full for this comes at My word. Now I will also speak judgment against My people.”
13
“Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds,
His chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!”
14
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long will your wicked and immoral thoughts
Lodge within you?
15
For a voice declares from Dan [far in the north],
And proclaims evil from [b]Mount Ephraim.
16
“Warn the [neighboring] nations now [that our enemy is coming]!
Announce to Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers are coming from a far country,
And they lift their voices and shout against the cities of Judah.
17
‘Like watchmen of a field they are against her on all sides,
Because she has rebelled against Me,’ says the Lord.
18
“Your ways and your deeds
Have brought these things on you.
This is your tragedy and doom; how bitter,
How it has touched your heart!”
Lament over Judah’s Devastation
19
My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is pounding and throbbing within me;
I cannot be silent,
For you have heard, O my soul,
The sound of the trumpet,
The alarm of war.
20
News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,
For the whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,
My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.
21
How long [O Lord] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight]
And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?
22
“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah];
“They do not know Me;
They are foolish children
And have no understanding.
They are shrewd [enough] to do evil,
But they do not know [how] to do good.”
23
I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24
I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were trembling,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
25
I looked, and behold, there was no man,
And all the birds of the air had fled.
26
I looked, and behold, the fertile land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the [presence of the] Lord, before His fierce anger.
27
Therefore says the Lord,
“The whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will not cause total destruction.(A)
28
“For this reason the earth shall mourn
And the heavens above shall become dark,
Because I have spoken, I have decided,
And I will not change my mind (relent), nor will I turn back from it.”
29
Every city runs away at the sound of the horsemen and archers.
They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks;
Every city is deserted,
And no man lives in them.
30
And you, O desolate one, what will you do?
Though you clothe yourself in scarlet,
Though you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
Though you enlarge your eyes with paint,
You make yourself beautiful in vain.
Your lovers (allies) despise you;
They seek your life.
31
For I heard a cry like a woman in labor,
The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath,
Who stretches out her hands, saying,
“Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:10 Jeremiah could not reconcile the tragedy he was now commanded to announce with his previous prophecy.
- Jeremiah 4:15 The northern mountain dividing Israel from Judah.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
