Jeremiah 4:30-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in crimson,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.(A)
31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,
the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”(B)
Jeremiah 4:30-31
New English Translation
30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,[a]
you accomplish nothing[b] by wearing a beautiful dress,[c]
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow![d]
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you.[e]
31 In fact,[f] I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion[g] gasping for breath,
reaching out for help,[h] saying, “I am done in![i]
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”
Notas al pie
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership that was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “they seek your life.”
- Jeremiah 4:31 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.
- Jeremiah 4:31 sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless young woman giving birth.
- Jeremiah 4:31 tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.
- Jeremiah 4:31 tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”
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