4:1  IF YOU will return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you will return to Me, and if you will put away your abominable false gods out of My sight and not stray {or} waver,

4:2  And if you swear, As the Lord lives, in truth, in judgment {and} justice, and in righteousness (uprightness in every area and relation), then the nations will bless themselves in Him and in Him will they glory.

4:3  For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns.

4:4  Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My wrath go forth like fire [consuming all that gets in its way] and burn so that no one can quench it because of the evil of your doings.

4:5  Declare in Judah and publish in Jerusalem and say: Blow the trumpet in the land; cry aloud and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.

4:6  Raise a standard toward Zion [to mark out the safest route to those seeking safety within Jerusalem's walls]! Flee for safety, stay not, for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.

4:7  A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations is on his way. He has gone forth from his place to make your land a desolate waste; and your cities shall be left in ruins without an inhabitant.

4:8  For this, gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back from us.

4:9  And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that the understanding {and} courage of the king shall fail (be paralyzed), and also that of the princes; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded {and} dazed with horror.

4:10  Then I [Jeremiah] said, Alas, Lord God! Surely You have greatly deceived {and} misled this people and Jerusalem, [for the prophets represented You as] saying [to Your people], You shall have peace, whereas the sword has reached to [their very] life.

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 [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people--not [a wind] to fan or cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]

4:12  A wind too strong {and} full for winnowing comes at My word. Now I will also speak in judgment against [My people].

4:13  Behold, [the enemy] comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined (destroyed)!

4:14  O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved! How long shall your iniquitous {and} grossly offensive thoughts lodge within you?

4:15  For a voice declares from Dan [in the north] and proclaims evil from Mount Ephraim [the range dividing Israel from Judah].

4:16  Warn the [neighboring] nations [that our adversary is coming]; announce to Jerusalem that besiegers are coming from a far country, and they shout against the cities of Judah.

4:17  Like keepers of a field they are against her round about, because she has been rebellious against Me, says the Lord.

4:18  Your ways and your doings have brought these things upon you. This is your calamity {and} doom; surely it is bitter, for surely it reaches your very heart!

4:19  [It is not only the prophet but also the people who cry out in their thoughts] My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is disquieted {and} throbs aloud within me; I cannot be silent! For I have heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.

4:20  News of one violent disaster {and} calamity comes close after another, for the whole land is laid waste; suddenly are my tents spoiled {and} destroyed, and my [tent] curtains ruined in a moment.

4:21  [O Lord] how long must I see the flag [marking the route for flight] and hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to flee for refuge]?

4:22  [Their chastisement will continue until it has accomplished its purpose] for My people are stupid, says the Lord [replying to Jeremiah]; they do not know {and} understand Me. They are thickheaded children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge [and know not how].

4:23  [In a vision Jeremiah sees Judah laid waste by conquest and captivity.] I looked at the land, and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] waste and vacant (void); and at the heavens, and they had no light.

4:24  I looked at the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly to and fro.

4:25  I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled.

4:26  I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid waste before the Lord's presence, before His fierce anger.

4:27  For thus says the Lord: The whole land will be a desolation, yet I will not make a full {and} complete end of it.

4:28  For this will the earth mourn and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I will not relent, nor will I turn back [from it].

4:29  Every city flees because of the noise of the horsemen and bowmen. They go into the thickets and climb among the rocks; every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells in them.

4:30  And you [plundered one], when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you paint your eyelids {and} make them look farther apart, in vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers (allies) despise you; they seek your life.

4:31  For I have heard a cry as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of one who brings forth her first child--the cry of the Daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, saying, Woe is me now! I am fainting before the murderers.