Jeremiah 4

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.

1"If you want to come back, Israel, then come back to me," says the LORD. "Throw away the idols I hate. Then you will not wander away again."

2And 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.

2When you make a promise, you will say, "The LORD is alive." You will say it truly, fairly, and honestly. Then other nations will be blessed through him. They will be proud of him.

3For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.

3This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: "Break up your hard ground that has never been plowed. Do not plant seeds among thorn bushes.

4Circumcise 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.

4Change your hearts so they truly belong to the LORD, men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. If you do not, my anger will break out like fire. No one will be able to put it out. It will burn because of the evil things you do."

Note"Circumcise yourselves" points to an old sign: a small piece of skin was cut off a baby boy to show he belonged to God's people. Here God asks for a change on the inside, in the heart, not just a mark on the body.

5Declare 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.

5Tell it in Judah. Shout it in Jerusalem. Say, "Blow the ram's horn all over the land!" Call out loudly, "Come together! Let us run to the cities with strong walls."

6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

6Raise a flag to point the way to Zion, another name for Jerusalem. Run to a safe place! Do not wait! "I am bringing trouble from the north," God says, "and terrible destruction."

7The 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.

7A lion has come out of his hiding place. A destroyer of nations has started out. He has left his home to ruin your land. Your cities will be knocked down, with no one living in them.

8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.

8So put on sackcloth, the rough, scratchy cloth that very sad people wore. Cry and wail out loud. The LORD is still very angry with us.

9And 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.

9"On that day," says the LORD, "the king and his leaders will lose all their courage. The priests, the men who served God at the temple, will shake with fear. The prophets, who told people what God said, will be shocked."

10Then 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.

10Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! You have completely fooled these people and Jerusalem. You told them, 'You will have peace.' But now a sword is at our throats."

11At 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,

11At that time this will be said to the people and to Jerusalem: "A hot, dry wind blows from the bare hills in the desert. It blows toward my dear people. It is not the gentle wind farmers use to clean their grain.

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

12A wind far too strong for that comes from me. Now I will say what their punishment will be."

13Behold, 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.

13Look! The enemy comes up like storm clouds. His war carts are like a whirlwind. His horses are faster than eagles. How terrible for us! We are ruined!

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

14Jerusalem, wash the evil out of your heart. Then you can be saved. How long will you keep bad thoughts inside you?

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

15A voice is shouting from the town of Dan. It brings bad news from the hills of Ephraim.

16Make 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.

16Warn the nations now! Tell Jerusalem this: "An army is coming from a faraway land to surround the city. The soldiers shout against the towns of Judah.

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

17They stand all around her, like men guarding a field. This is because she turned against me," says the LORD.

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

18"The way you lived and the things you did brought this on you. This is your punishment. It is bitter. It cuts all the way to your heart."

19My 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.

19Oh, the pain! The pain deep inside me! My heart is pounding hard. I cannot keep quiet. I have heard the horn and the shout of battle.

NoteThe KJV says "my bowels, my bowels." In old English, "bowels" meant the deep inside of a person, where strong feelings were felt. It means "I hurt deep inside."

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

20Bad news comes after bad news. The whole land is ruined. All at once my tents are torn down. My tent curtains are ripped in a moment.

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

21How long must I see the war flag? How long must I hear the sound of the horn?

22For 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.

22"My people are foolish. They do not know me. They are like silly children who do not understand. They are clever at doing wrong. They do not know how to do good."

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

23I looked at the earth. It had no shape, and it was empty. I looked up at the heavens, and there was no light.

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

24I looked at the mountains. They were shaking. All the hills were swaying back and forth.

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

25I looked, and there were no people left. All the birds in the sky had flown away.

26I 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.

26I looked, and the good farmland had turned into a desert. All its towns were torn down. This happened before the LORD, in his fierce anger.

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

27This is what the LORD says: "The whole land will be left empty. But I will not destroy it completely.

28For 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.

28So the earth will be sad, and the heavens above will go dark. I have said it. I have planned it. I will not change my mind or turn back."

29The 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.

29At the sound of horsemen and men with bows, everyone in the city runs away. They hide in the bushes. They climb up among the rocks. Every town is left empty. No one lives there.

30And 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.

30You are ruined, so what will you do now? You may put on a bright red dress. You may wear gold jewelry. You may paint around your eyes to make them look bigger. Making yourself pretty will not help at all. The men who once loved you now hate you. They want to kill you.

NoteThe KJV says she "rentest" her face with painting. That means putting dark paint around the eyes to make them look larger, the way makeup was used then.

31For 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.

31I hear a cry like a woman having a baby. It is the sharp cry of a mother with her first child. It is the cry of Jerusalem, called the daughter of Zion. She is gasping for breath and reaching out her hands. She says, "Help me! I am worn out. Killers are coming."