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“If you will come back, Israel,
    then come back to me,” says the Lord.
“Throw away your idols that I hate.
    Don’t wander away from me.
Then you may say when you make a promise,
    ‘As surely as the Lord lives.’
    And you can say it in a truthful, honest and right way.
Then the nations will be blessed by the Lord.
    And they will praise the Lord for what he has done.”

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

“Plow your unplowed fields.
    Don’t plant seeds among the thorns.
Give yourselves to the service of the Lord.
    Decide to obey him.
    Do this, men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.
If you don’t, my anger will spread among you like a fire.
    No one will be able to put it out
    because of the evil you have done.

Trouble from the North

“Announce this message to Judah and say it in Jerusalem:
    ‘Blow the trumpet throughout the country!’
Shout out loud and say,
    ‘Come together!
    Let’s all escape to the strong, walled cities!’
Raise the signal flag toward Jerusalem!
    Run for your lives! And don’t wait!
Do this because I am bringing disaster from the north.
    It will be terrible destruction.”

A lion has come out of his den.
    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 people left to live in them.
So put on rough cloth,
    show how sad you are and cry loudly.
The terrible anger of the Lord
    has not turned away from us.

“When this happens,” says the Lord,
    “the king and officers will lose their courage.
The priests will be terribly afraid.
    And the prophets will be shocked!”

10 Then I, Jeremiah, said, “Lord God, you have tricked the people of Judah and Jerusalem. You said, ‘You will have peace.’ But now the sword is pointing at our throats!”

11 At that time this message will be given to Judah and Jerusalem: “A hot wind blows from the bare hilltops. It comes out of the desert toward the Lord’s people. It is not like the gentle wind farmers use to separate grain from chaff. 12 It’s a stronger wind than that. And it comes from the Lord. Now he will announce his judgment against the people of Judah.”

13 Look! The enemy rises up like a cloud.
    His chariots come like a windstorm.
His horses are faster than eagles.
    How terrible it will be for us! We are ruined!
14 People of Jerusalem, clean the evil from your hearts and be saved.
    Don’t continue making evil plans.
15 A voice from Dan makes an announcement.
    From the mountains of Ephraim someone brings bad news.
16 “Report this to the nations.
    Spread this news in Jerusalem:
‘Enemies are coming from a faraway country.
    They are shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.
17 The enemy has surrounded Jerusalem as men guard a field.
    This is because Judah turned against me,’” says the Lord.
18 “The way you have lived and acted
    has brought this trouble to you.
This is your punishment.
    How terrible it is!
    The pain stabs your heart!”

Jeremiah’s Cry

19 Oh, how I hurt! How I hurt!
    I am bent over in pain.
Oh, the torture in my heart!
    My heart is pounding inside me.
    I cannot keep quiet.
This is because I have heard the sound of the trumpet.
    I have heard the words of war.
20 Disaster follows disaster.
    The whole country has been destroyed.
My tents are destroyed in only a moment.
    My curtains are torn down quickly.
21 How long must I look at the war flag?
    How long must I listen to the war trumpets?

22 The Lord says, “My people are foolish.
    They do not know me.
They are stupid children.
    They don’t understand.
They are skillful at doing evil.
    They don’t know how to do good.”

Disaster Is Coming

23 I looked at the earth.
    It was empty and had no shape!
I looked at the sky.
    And its light was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
    and they were shaking!
    All the hills were trembling.
25 I looked, and there were no people!
    Every bird in the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the good, rich land had become a desert!
    All its towns had been destroyed.
    The Lord and his great anger has caused this.

27 This is what the Lord says:

“All the land will be ruined.
    But I will not completely destroy it.
28 So the people in the land will cry loudly.
    And the sky will grow dark.
This is because I have spoken and will not change my mind.
    I have made a decision, and I will not change it.”

29 The towns will hear the sound of the horsemen and soldiers with bows.
    All the people will run away.
Some of them will hide in the thick bushes.
    Some will climb up into the rocks.
All of the cities of Judah are empty.
    No one lives in them.
30 Judah, you destroyed nation, what are you doing?
    Why do you put on your finest dress?
    Why do you put on your gold jewelry?
Why do you put on your eye shadow?
    You make yourself beautiful, but it is all useless.
Your lovers hate you.
    They want to kill you.

31 I hear a cry like a woman having a baby.
    It is a cry like a woman having her first child.
It is the voice of Jerusalem gasping for breath.
    She lifts her hands in prayer and says,
“Oh! I am about to faint.
    They are about to murder me!”

– Если вернёшься, Исроил, –
        возвещает Вечный, –
    если вернёшься ко Мне,
удалишь мерзких идолов с глаз Моих
    и не будешь больше скитаться,
если будешь истинно, справедливо и праведно клясться:
    «Верно, как и то, что жив Вечный!» –
то народы получат Моё благословение
    и прославят Моё имя.

Так говорит Вечный народу Иудеи и Иерусалима:

– Распашите свою целину
    и не сейте среди колючек.
Обрежьте себя для Вечного,
    обрежьте ваши сердца[a],
    народ Иудеи и жители Иерусалима,
а не то вспыхнет, как огонь, Мой гнев,
    будет гореть, и никто не потушит –
    из-за зла, что вы творите.

Бедствие с севера

– Объявите в Иудее, возвестите в Иерусалиме и скажите:
    «Трубите в рога по всей стране!»
Восклицайте и говорите:
    «Собирайтесь! Бежим в укреплённые города!»
Поднимите знамя, чтобы люди пришли на Сион!
    Спасайтесь бегством, не медлите!
Так как с севера Я наведу беду –
    лютую гибель.

Вышел лев из своего логова;
    тронулся в путь палач народов.
Он покинул своё место,
    чтобы разорить твою землю.
Твои города, Иудея, превратятся в руины,
    не останется горожан.
Так наденьте рубище,
    рыдайте и плачьте,
потому что пылающий гнев Вечного
    не отвратился от нас.

– В тот день, – возвещает Вечный, –
    у царя и вельмож дрогнет сердце,
ужаснутся священнослужители
    и пророков охватит страх.

10 И я сказал:

– О Владыка Вечный, как же сильно Ты обманул этот народ и жителей Иерусалима, говоря: «У вас будет мир», тогда как меч приставлен к нашему горлу.

11 – В то время этому народу и жителям Иерусалима будет сказано: «Жгучий ветер с голых вершин в пустыне дует в сторону Моего народа, но на нём ни провеять зерна, ни очистить его от сора, – 12 слишком могуч этот ветер, дующий по Моему повелению. Настал час, когда Я вынесу им приговор».

13 Глядите! Он приближается, словно тучи,
    как ураган – его колесницы,
кони его быстрее орлов.
    Горе нам! Мы погибли!
14 Иерусалим, очисти сердце от зла и будешь спасён.
    Долго ли таить тебе злые мысли?
15 Уже несётся голос от города Дона,
    весть о беде с гор Ефраима.

16 – Объявите народам,
    возвестите Иерусалиму:
«Войска осаждающих идут из дальней земли,
    оглашая военным кличем города Иудеи.
17 Они окружат Иерусалим, как стражи полей,
    потому что он восстал против Меня», –
        возвещает Вечный. –
18 Твои пути, твои дела
    принесли всё это тебе.
Это твоя участь.
    От горя разрывается твоё сердце!

19 Горе! Горе!
    Я корчусь от боли.
Смута в сердце.
    Сердце колотится;
    я не могу молчать,
потому что слышу звук рога,
    слышу боевой клич.
20 Беда за бедой;
    вся страна опустошена.
В один миг погибли мои шатры,
    в мгновение ока – мои палатки.
21 Сколько мне ещё смотреть на знамя,
    слышать звуки рога?

22 – Бестолков Мой народ,
    Меня он не знает.
Мой народ – глупые дети;
    нет у моих детей разума.
Они мастера совершать зло,
    а делать добро не умеют.

Видение опустошения земли

23 Я смотрю на землю,
    но она пуста и безлика,
и на небеса,
    но свет их погас.
24 Я смотрю на горы –
    они дрожат,
    и все холмы колеблются.
25 Я смотрю – и нет никого,
    и все птицы разлетелись.
26 Я смотрю – и пустыней стал плодородный край,
    и все города его разрушены перед Вечным,
    от Его пылающего гнева.

27 Так говорит Вечный:

– Вся земля будет опустошена,
    хоть Я и не погублю её полностью.
28 Высохнет земля,
    и над ней почернеет небо,
потому что Я так сказал и задумал –
    не сжалюсь и не отступлюсь.

29 От шума всадников и стрелков
    разбегаются все жители городов.
Кто подаётся в леса,
    кто в горы уходит –
все города оставлены,
    нет в них жителей.

30 Что же ты делаешь, опустошённая?
    Для чего одеваешься в пурпур,
для чего надеваешь золото
    и подводишь глаза?
    Напрасно ты прихорашиваешься.
Любовники тебя презирают
    и хотят отнять у тебя жизнь.

31 Слышу крик, будто женщина в родах кричит,
    словно стонет рожающая в первый раз, –
слышу крик дочери Сиона[b],
    задыхается она, раскинув руки:
«Горе мне!
    Бессильна я перед убийцами».

Footnotes

  1. Иер 4:4 Люди с необрезанными сердцами – это образное выражение обозначает людей, непокорных Всевышнему.
  2. Иер 4:31 Дочь Сиона – олицетворение Иерусалима. Также в 6:2, 23.

If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.

And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.

For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

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

Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.

Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.

For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us.

And it shall come to pass at 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 wonder.

10 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 that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

12 Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.

13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

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

15 For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.

16 Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

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

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

19 My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

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

21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

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

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

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

29 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.

30 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.