4:1 “If you will return, O Israel, return to me,” declares the LORD. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,
4:2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.”
4:3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.
4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done–burn with no one to quench it.
4:5 “Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say: ‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’ Cry aloud and say: ‘Gather together! Let us flee to the fortified cities!’
4:6 Raise the signal to go to Zion! Flee for safety without delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, even terrible destruction.”
4:7 A lion has come out of his lair; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his place to lay waste your land. Your towns will lie in ruins without inhabitant.
4:8 So put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.
4:9 “In that day,” declares the LORD, “the king and the officials will lose heart, the priests will be horrified, and the prophets will be appalled.”
4:10 Then I said, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats.”
4:11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse;
4:12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”
4:13 Look! He advances like the clouds, his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! We are ruined!
4:14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
4:15 A voice is announcing from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
4:16 “Tell this to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem: ‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land, raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.
4:17 They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me,’” declares the LORD.
4:18 “Your own conduct and actions have brought this upon you. This is your punishment. How bitter it is! How it pierces to the heart!”
4:19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.
4:20 Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins. In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment.
4:21 How long must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?
4:22 “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.”
4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.
4:24 I looked at the mountains, and they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
4:25 I looked, and there were no people; every bird in the sky had flown away.
4:26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert; all its towns lay in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
4:27 This is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be ruined, though I will not destroy it completely.
4:28 Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above grow dark, because I have spoken and will not relent, I have decided and will not turn back.”
4:29 At the sound of horsemen and archers every town takes to flight. Some go into the thickets; some climb up among the rocks. All the towns are deserted; no one lives in them.
4:30 What are you doing, O devastated one? Why dress yourself in scarlet and put on jewels of gold? Why shade your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.
4:31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor, a groan as of one bearing her first child–the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands and saying, “Alas! I am fainting; my life is given over to murderers.”
4:1 If you will return, O Israel, declares Jehovah, / Return to Me; / And if you put away your detestable things from My presence / And do not wander,
4:2 And swear, As Jehovah lives, / In truth and in justice and in righteousness, / Then the nations will bless themselves in Him, / And in Him they will glory.
4:3 For thus says Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, / Break up your fallow ground, / And do not sow among thorns.
4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, / And remove the foreskins of your heart, / Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, / Lest My wrath go forth like fire / And burn, and there be no one to quench it / Because of the evil of your deeds.
4:5 Declare in Judah / And proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: / Blow the trumpet in the land; / Cry aloud and say, / Gather yourselves and let us go / Into the fortified cities.
4:6 Raise up a standard toward Zion. / Seek refuge; do not stay; / For I am bringing evil from the north, / And great destruction.
4:7 A lion has come up from his thicket, / And a destroyer of nations has set out. / He has gone forth from his place / To make your land a waste; / Your cities will be ruins, / Without an inhabitant.
4:8 For this, gird yourselves with sackcloth, / Wail and howl; / For the burning anger of Jehovah / Has not turned away from us.
4:9 And in that day, declares Jehovah, the heart of the king and the heart of the princes will fail; and the priests will be appalled, and the prophets will be astounded.
4:10 And I said, Alas, Lord Jehovah, surely You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You will have peace; whereas the sword reaches to the soul.
4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of My people, not for winnowing nor for purging
4:12 (A wind too strong for these), will come from Me; now I will also utter judgments against them.
4:13 Here he is coming up like clouds, / And his chariots like the whirlwind; / His horses are swifter than eagles. / Woe to us for we are devastated!
4:14 Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, / That you may be saved. / How long will your evil thoughts / Lodge within you?
4:15 For a voice declares from Dan / And announces affliction from the hill country of Ephraim.
4:16 Make mention to the nations; yes, / Announce against Jerusalem. / Besiegers are coming from a distant land / And utter their voice against the cities of Judah.
4:17 Like those who watch over a field, they are against her all around / Because she has rebelled against Me, declares Jehovah.
4:18 Your way and your deeds / Have caused these things to happen to you. / This is your wickedness. Indeed it is bitter! / Indeed it reaches to your heart!
4:19 My bowels, my bowels; I am writhing. / Oh, the walls of my heart! / My heart is moaning within me; / I cannot be silent; / For you hear, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, / The alarm of war.
4:20 Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed, / For the whole land is devastated. / Suddenly my tents are devastated, / And my curtains in a moment.
4:21 How long will I see the standard, / And hear the sound of the trumpet?
4:22 For My people are foolish; / They do not know Me. / They are stupid children / And have no understanding. / They are wise to do evil, / But they do not know to do good.
4:23 I looked at the earth, and there it was, waste and emptiness; / And at the heavens, and they had no light.
4:24 I looked at the mountains, and there they were, shaking, / And all the hills were swaying.
4:25 I looked, and there was no man, / And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
4:26 I looked, and there was the fruitful land, a wilderness, / And all its cities were torn down / Before Jehovah, before His burning anger.
4:27 For thus says Jehovah, / The whole land will be a desolation, / But I will not make a full end;
4:28 For this the earth will mourn, / And the heavens above will be dark; / Because I have spoken, I have purposed; / And I have not repented, nor will I turn from it.
4:29 At the sound of horsemen and archers / Every city flees; / They go into the thickets / And climb up on the rocks. / Every city is forsaken, / And not even one inhabits them.
4:30 And you, O desolate one, what will you do? / Although you dress in scarlet, / Although you are adorned with ornaments of gold, Although you enlarge your eyes with paint, / In vain do you beautify yourself; / Your lovers despise you; / They seek your life.
4:31 For I heard a cry like that of a woman in travail, / Anguish like that of a woman bringing forth her first child, / The sound of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath; / She stretches out her hands, saying, / Woe is me, / For my soul is fainting before murderers.