Jeremiah 4:5-Jeremiah 6:30 - An Invasion From The North
5 Declare ye in Judah And in Jerusalem, let it be heard, And say, Blow ye a horn in the land, - Cry, with frill voice And say, Gather yourselves together, And let us enter the defenced cities. 6 Lift up an ensign - Zion-ward, Bring into safety, do not tarry, - For, calamity, am, I, bringing in from the North, Even, a great destruction: 7 There hath come up a lion out of his thicket, Yea, a destroyer of nations - hath set forward, hath come forth out of his place, - To make thy land a desolation, Thy cities, shall fall in ruins, so as to have no inhabitant. 8 On this account, gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl, - Because the glow of the anger of Yahweh hath not turned from us.
9 And it shall come to pass, in that day, Declareth Yahweh, That the courage of the king shall fail, And the courage of the princes, - And the priests shall be astonished, And, the prophets, shall be amazed.
10 Then said I, - Ah! My Lord Yahweh! Surely, thou hast suffered this people and Jerusalem to be beguiled, saying, Peace, shall ye have, - whereas the sword shall reach unto the soul.
11 At that time, shall it be said of this people and of Jerusalem, - The sharp wind of the bare heights in the desert, cometh towards the daughter of my people, - not to winnow nor to cleanse. 12 A wind too strong for these, cometh in for me. Now, will, I also, pronounce sentences upon them:
13 Lo! like clouds, shall he come up, Even as a storm-wind, his chariots, Swifter than eagles, his horses, - Woe to us for we are laid waste! 14 Wash from wickedness thy heart, O Jerusalem, That thou mayest be saved, - How long, shall lodge within thee thy wicked devices? 15 For a voice, declareth from Dan, - And publisheth trouble from the hill country of Ephraim. 16 Put ye in mind the nations Lo! publish ye against Jerusalem, Blockaders! are coming in from a land afar off, - And have uttered against the cities of Judah their voice: 17 As the keepers of a field, have they come against her round about, - For against me, hath she rebelled, Declareth Yahweh. 18 Thine own way And thine own doings, Have done these things unto thee, - This thy wickedness, Surely it is bitter, Surely it hath reached unto thy heart.
19 My bowels! My bowels! I am pained in the walls of my heart My heart beateth aloud to me I cannot be still! For the sound of a horn, hast thou heard O my soul, The loud shout of war! 20 Breach upon breach, they cry, For ruined, is all the land, - Suddenly, are ruined my tents, In a moment, my curtains! 21 How long shall I keep on seeing a standard, - continue to hear the sound of a horn?
22 Surely, perverse, is my people Me, have they not known, Foolish sons, they are, Yea without understanding, they are: Wise, they are to commit wickedness, But how to do well, they know not!
23 I beheld, The earth; and lo! it was waste and wild, - The heavens also and their light was not: 24 I beheld, The mountains, and lo! they were trembling, - And all the hills, had been violently moved: 25 I beheld, And lo! there was no human being, - Yea, all the birds of the heavens! had fled: 26 I beheld, And lo! the garden-land, was a desert, - And, all its cities, had been broken down, Because of Yahweh, Because of the glow of his anger!
27 For, thus, saith Yahweh, A desolation, shall all the land become - Nevertheless a full end, will I not make. 28 For this cause, shall the land mourn, and the heavens above be overcast: Because I have spoken have purposed, and have not repented nor will I turn back therefrom.
29 At the noise of horseman and archer, The whole city is in flight, They have entered dark thickets, Yea unto the crags, have they gone up, - Every city, is forsaken, There remaineth not in them a man! 30 And when, thou, art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with crimson Though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold Though thou enlarge with antimony thine eyes, In vain, shalt thou make thyself fair, - Paramours have rejected thee, Thy life, will they seek! 31 For a voice as of a woman in pangs, have I heard Anguish as of her that is bearing her firstborn. The voice of the daughter of Zion! She gaspeth for breath, She spreadeth forth her palms, - Surely woe to me! For my soul fainteth before murderers.
1 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, And see I pray you and know and seek out in the broad places thereof, Whether ye can find, a man, Whether there is one Doing justice Demanding fidelity, - That I may pardon her. 2 Even though they say By the life of Yahweh, Yet in fact falsely, do they swear. 3 O Yahweh! thine own eyes, are they not directed to fidelity? Thou hast smitten them Yet have they not grieved, Thou hast consumed them - They have refused to receive correction, - They have made their faces bolder than a cliff, They have refused to return.
4 And, I, said, - Only, poor people, are they, - They act foolishly, For they know not the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God! 5 I will betake me unto the great men, and will speak, with them! For, they, know the way of Yahweh, the justice of their God! Yea but, they, with one accord have broken the yoke, torn off the bands. 6 For this cause, hath the lion out of the forest smitten them, The wolf of the waste plains, preyeth upon them, The leopard, is keeping watch over their cities, Every one that goeth out from thence, is torn in pieces, - For they have multiplied their transgressions, Numerous are their apostasies.
7 How, for this, can I pardon thee? Thine own sons, have forsaken me, And have sworn by No-gods, - When I had fed them to the full, Then committed they adultery, And the house of the unchaste woman, they used to throng: 8 Lusty, well-fed horses, had they become, Every man unto his neighbours wife, would neigh! 9 For these things, shall I not punish? Demandeth Yahweh: Yea on a nation such as this, must not my soul avenge herself?
10 Scale ye her walls and destroy, But a full end, do not make, - Remove her tendrils, For not to Yahweh, do, they, belong! 11 For very treacherously, have the house of Israel and the house of Judah dealt with me, Declareth Yahweh. 12 They have acted deceptively against Yahweh, And have said, Not He! Neither shall there come upon us, calamity, Nor sword nor famine, shall we see; 13 But the prophets, shall prove to be wind, And there is no one speaking in them, - Thus, shall it be done to themselves!
14 Therefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, Because ye have spoken this word, - Behold me! making my words in thy mouth to be fire, And, this people, - wood, So shall it devour them. 15 Behold me! bringing upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, - A nation invincible, it is, A nation from age-past times, hath it been, A nation whose tongue thou shalt not know, Neither shalt thou understand what it speaketh: 16 Its quiver, is like an open sepulchre, - They all, are heroes: 17 Then shall it eat thy harvest and thy bread which thy sons and thy daughters should eat, - It shall eat thy flock and thy herd, It shall eat thy vine and thy fig-tree, - It shall destroy thy defenced cities wherein thou, art trusting, with the sword.
18 Yet, even in those days, Declareth Yahweh, Will I not make of you, a full end. 19 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, For what cause hath Yahweh our God done to us all these things? Then shalt thou say unto them, - As ye forsook me, and served the gods of the foreigner in your own land, So, shall ye serve aliens in a land not your own. 20 Tell ye this, throughout the house of Jacob, - And let it be heard throughout Judah saying:
21 Hear this, I pray you ye people - foolish and without heart, - Eyes, have they, and see not, Ears, have they, and hear not! 22 Even for me, will ye have no reverence? Enquireth Yahweh, And because of me, will ye not he pained? In that though I placed the sand as a bound to the sea, A decree age-abiding, and it should not pass beyond it, - When they would toss themselves Then should they not prevail, When the waves thereof would roar Then should they not pass beyond it, 23 Yet, this people hath an obstinate and rebellious heart, - They have turned aside, and gone their way; 24 Neither have they said in their heart, - Let us we pray you, revere Yahweh our God, Who giveth rain, even the early and the latter, in its season, - The appointed weeks of harvest, he reserveth for us. 25 Your iniquities, have thrust away these things, Yea, your sins, have withholden that which is good from you. 26 For there have been found among my people lawless men, - One lieth in wait, as with the stooping of fowlers, They have set a trap, they capture men: 27 As, a cage, is full of birds, So, are, their houses, full of unrighteous gain, - For this cause, have they become great and waxen rich: 28 They have waxed fat, they shine Yea they have overpassed the records of wickedness. The right, have they not determined, the right of the fatherless that they might prosper, - Yea justice to the helpless, have they not decreed. 29 Upon these things, shall I not bring punishment? Demandeth Yahweh. Or, on a nation such as this, shall not my soul avenge herself?
30 An astounding and horrible thing, hath been brought to pass in the land: 31 The prophets, have prophesied, falsely, And the priests tread down by their means, And, my people, love it, so, - What then can ye do as to her latter end?
1 Take your goods into safety, ye sons of Benjamin out of the midst of Jerusalem, And in Tekoa, blow ye a horn, And on Beth-haccherem, raise a fire-signal, - For calamity, hath looked out from the North, Even a great destruction. 2 To a comely and delicate woman, have I likened the daughter of Zion: 3 Against her, shall come shepherds with their flocks; They have pitched against her their tents, round about, They tend their flocks every one near at hand. 4 Hallow ye against her a war, Arise! and let us go up in broad noon. Woe to us, for the day, hath turned, for the shadows of evening, stretch along. 5 Arise! and let us go up in the night, And let us destroy her palaces.
6 For, Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, Cut ye down timber, And cast up, against Jerusalem a mound, - That, is the city to be punished! There is, nothing, but oppression in her midst; 7 Like the casting forth by a wall of its waters, So, hath she cast forth her wickedness, - Violence and destruction, are heard in her, Before my face, continually, are suffering and smiting. 8 Receive thou correction O Jerusalem, Lest my soul be torn from thee, - Lest I make thee A desolation, A land not habitable.
9 Thus, saith Yahweh of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel - Turn back thy hand, as a grape gatherer over the tendrils.
10 Unto whom, can I speak - and bear witness, that they may hear? Lo! uncircumcised, is their ear, that they cannot attend, - Lo! the word of Yahweh, hath become to them a reproach, they take no delight therein. 11 So then with the indignation of Yahweh, am I full I am too weary to hold it in, am constrained to pour it out, upon the boy in the street, and upon the circle of young men, together, - For, even husband with wife, will be captured, The eider with him who is full of days; 12 And their houses shall be turned over to others, Fields and wives together, - For I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land, Declareth Yahweh.
13 For, from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, Every one, graspeth with greed, - And from the prophet even unto the priest, Every one, dealeth, falsely; 14 And so they have healed the grievous wound of my people, slightly, Saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace, 15 Were they led to turn pale because an abominable thing, they had done! Nay! they did not, at all turn pale, Nay! they did not so much as know how, to exhibit shame, Therefore, shall they fall among them who are falling, In the time when I punish them, shall they be overthrown, Saith Yahweh.
16 Thus saith Yahweh - Stand ye at the ways - and see, And ask for the paths of age-past times, Where is the good way? And walk therein, And ye shall find rest to your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein ! 17 Therefore will I raise up over you, watchmen, Give ye heed to the sound of a horn, - But they said, We will not give heed!
18 Therefore, hear O ye nations, - And take knowledge O assembly, Of that which befalleth them: 19 Hear thou - O earth, Lo! I, am bringing in Calamity against this people the fruit of their own devices, - For unto my words, have they not given heed, And as for my law, they have rejected it. 20 What then is it to me that - Frankincense from Shebah come in, or Sweet cane from a land afar off? Your own ascending-offerings, are not acceptable, Nor are, your sacrifices, pleasing to me. 21 Wherefore, Thus, saith Yahweh, Behold me! laying before this people, stumblingblocks, - And fathers and sons together, shall stumble against them, The neighbour and his friend, shall perish.
22 Thus, saith Yahweh, Lo! a people coming in from the land of the North, - Yea a great nation, shall be stirred up out of the remote parts of the earth: 23 Bow and javelin, shall they grasp, Cruel, is he! So they will not have compassion, Their voice, like the sea, will roar, And on horses, will they ride, - Arrayed each one, like a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Zion!
24 We have heard the report thereof, Relaxed are our hands, - Anguish, hath taken hold on us, Pangs, as on her that is giving birth. 25 Do not go out into the field, And in the road, do not walk,-Because a sword, hath the foe, - Terror round about! 26 O daughter of my people Gird thee with sackcloth and roll thyself in ashes, - The mourning for an only son, make thou for thyself, Most bitter lamentation! For suddenly, shall the destroyer come upon us.
27 An assayer, have I set thee amongst my people, of gold-ore, - That thou mayest note and try their way: 28 They all, are rebels of rebels, Slander-walkers They are bronze and iron! As for them all, corrupters, they are! 29 Scorched are the bellows, By fire, is lead wont to be, consumed, - In vain, hath he gone on refining, For the wicked, have not been drawn out: 30 Rejected silver, are they called, For, Yahweh, hath rejected them.