Jeremiah 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him
4 “If you will (A)return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,
“Then you should return to Me.
And (B)if you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver
2 And you will (C)swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
(D)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the (E)nations will [a]be blessed in Him,
And (F)in Him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“[b](G)Break up your fallow ground,
And (H)do not sow among thorns.
4 (I)Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My (J)wrath go forth like fire
And burn with (K)none to quench it
Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Evil from the North
5 Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,
“(L)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
‘(M)Gather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Lift up a (N)standard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing (O)evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A (P)lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a (Q)destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To (R)make your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, (S)I gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the (T)burning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the (U)heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the (V)prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly (W)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘(X)You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the [c]throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A [d](Y)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too full for these things—will come [e]for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he (Z)goes up like clouds,
And his (AA)chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are (AB)swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for (AC)we are devastated!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your (AD)wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from (AE)Dan,
And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’
Make it heard over Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a (AF)far country,
And (AG)give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are (AH)against her round about
Because she has (AI)rebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.
18 Your (AJ)ways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How (AK)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
Anguish over Judah’s Desolation
19 (AL)My [f]soul, my [g]soul! I am in anguish! [h]Oh, my heart!
My (AM)heart is pounding in me;
I cannot be silent
Because [i]you have heard, O my soul,
The (AN)sound of the trumpet,
The shout of war.
20 (AO)Destruction upon destruction is called out,
For the (AP)whole land is devastated;
Suddenly my (AQ)tents are devastated,
My curtains in an instant.
21 How long must I see the standard
And hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “(AR)For My people are ignorant fools,
They know Me not;
They are simpleminded children
And have no understanding.
They are wise to (AS)do evil,
But to do good they do not know.”
23 I saw on the earth, and behold, it was [j](AT)formless and void;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I saw on the mountains, and behold, they were (AU)quaking,
And all the hills [k]moved to and fro.
25 I saw, and behold, there was no man,
And all the (AV)birds of the sky had fled.
26 I saw, and behold, [l]the (AW)fruitful orchard was a wilderness,
And all its cities were torn down
Before Yahweh, before His burning anger.
27 For thus says Yahweh,
“The (AX)whole land shall be a desolation,
Yet I will (AY)not execute a complete destruction.
28 For this the (AZ)earth shall mourn
And the (BA)heavens above be dark
Because I have (BB)spoken; I have purposed,
And I will not [m]relent, nor will I turn from it.”
29 At the sound of the horseman and bowman (BC)every city flees;
They (BD)go into the thickets and climb up among the rocks;
(BE)Every city is forsaken,
And no man inhabits them.
30 And you, O devastated one, (BF)what will you do?
Although you dress in scarlet,
Although you decorate yourself with ornaments of gold,
Although you (BG)enlarge your eyes with paint,
In vain you make yourself beautiful.
Your [n](BH)lovers despise you;
They seek your life.
31 For I heard a sound as of a woman in labor pains,
The distress as of one giving birth to her first child,
The sound of the daughter of Zion (BI)gasping for breath,
(BJ)Stretching out her [o]hands, saying,
“Ah, woe is me, for my soul faints before murderers.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:2 Or experience blessing repeatedly, bless themselves
- Jeremiah 4:3 Lit Plow for yourselves plowed ground
- Jeremiah 4:10 Or life
- Jeremiah 4:11 Lit shimmering
- Jeremiah 4:12 Lit for Me
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit inward parts
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit inward parts
- Jeremiah 4:19 Lit The walls of my heart
- Jeremiah 4:19 Or I, my soul, heard
- Jeremiah 4:23 Or a waste and emptiness
- Jeremiah 4:24 Lit moved lightly
- Jeremiah 4:26 Or Carmel
- Jeremiah 4:28 Or regret, cf. 1 Sam 15:11, 29, 3
- Jeremiah 4:30 Lit paramours
- Jeremiah 4:31 Lit palms
Jeremiah 4
Contemporary English Version
How Israel Can Return to the Lord
4 The Lord said:
Israel, if you really want
to come back to me, get rid
of those disgusting idols.
2 Make promises only in my name,
and do what you promise!
Then all nations will praise me,
and I will bless them.
3 (A) People of Jerusalem and Judah,
don't be so stubborn!
Your hearts have become hard,
like unplowed ground
where thornbushes grow.
4 With all your hearts,
keep the agreement
I made with you.
But if you are stubborn
and keep on sinning,
my anger will burn like a fire
that cannot be put out.
Disaster Is Coming
The Lord said:
* 5 “Sound the trumpets, my people.
Warn the people of Judah,[a]
‘Run for your lives!
6 Head for Jerusalem
or another walled town!’
“Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending
disaster from the north.
7 An army will come out,
like a lion from its den.
It will destroy nations
and leave your towns empty
and in ruins.”
8 Then I told the people
of Israel,
“Put on sackcloth![b]
Mourn and cry out,
‘The Lord is still angry
with us.’ ”
9 The Lord said,
“When all this happens,
the king and his officials,
the prophets and the priests
will be shocked and terrified.”
10 I said, “You are the Lord God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?”
The Coming Disaster
11-12 When disaster comes, the Lord will tell you people of Jerusalem,
“I am sending a windstorm
from the desert—
not a welcome breeze.[c]
And it will sweep you away
as punishment for your sins.
13 Look! The enemy army
swoops down like an eagle;
their cavalry and chariots
race faster than storm clouds
blown by the wind.”
Then you will answer,
“We are doomed!”
14 But Jerusalem, there is still time
for you to be saved.
Wash the evil from your hearts
and stop making sinful plans,
15 before a message of disaster
arrives from the hills of Ephraim
and the town of Dan.[d]
16-17 The Lord said,
“Tell the nations that my people
have rebelled against me.
And so an army will come
from far away
to surround Jerusalem
and the towns of Judah.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18 “People of Judah,
your hearts will be in pain,
but it's your own fault
that you will be punished.”
Jeremiah's Vision of the Coming Punishment
19 I can't stand the pain!
My heart pounds,
as I twist and turn in agony.
I hear the signal trumpet
and the battle cry of the enemy,
and I cannot be silent.
20 I see the enemy defeating us
time after time,
leaving everything in ruins.
Even my own home
is destroyed in a moment.
21 How long will I see enemy flags
and hear their trumpets?
22 I heard the Lord say,
“My people ignore me.
They are foolish children
who do not understand
that they will be punished.
All they know is how to sin.”
23 After this, I looked around.
The earth was barren,
with no form of life.
The sun, moon, and stars
had disappeared.
24 The mountains were shaking;
25 no people could be seen,
and all the birds
had flown away.
26 Farmland had become a desert,
and towns were in ruins.
The Lord's fierce anger
had done all of this.
The Death of Jerusalem
27-28 The Lord said:
I have made my decision,
and I won't change my mind.
This land will be destroyed,
although not completely.
The sky will turn dark,
and the earth will mourn.
29 Enemy cavalry and archers
shout their battle cry.
People run for their lives
and try to find safety
among trees and rocks.
Every town is empty.
30 Jerusalem, your land
has been wiped out.
But you act like a prostitute
and try to win back your lovers,
who now hate you.
You can put on a red dress,
gold jewelry, and eye shadow,
but it's no use—
your lovers are out to kill you!
31 I heard groaning and crying.
Was it a woman giving birth
to her first child?
No, it was Jerusalem,
gasping for breath
and begging for help.
“I'm dying!” she said.
“They have murdered me.”
Footnotes
- 4.5 Judah: Hebrew “Judah and Jerusalem.”
- 4.8 sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.
- 4.11,12 a welcome breeze: Hebrew “a wind to blow away the husks.” Farmers used a special shovel to pitch grain and husks into the air. Wind would blow away the light husks, and the grain would fall back to the ground, where it could be gathered up.
- 4.15 Ephraim … Dan: The hills of Ephraim were to the north of Jerusalem, and Dan was even farther north. They would be reached by the invading army first.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
