1 "If you will return, Israel," says Yahweh, "if you will return to me, and if you will put away your abominations out of my sight; then you shall not be removed; 2 and you shall swear, 'As Yahweh lives,' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory." 3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, "Break up your fallow ground, and don't sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. 5 Declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, 'Blow the trumpet in the land!' Cry aloud and say, 'Assemble yourselves! Let us go into the fortified cities!' 6 Set up a standard toward Zion. Flee for safety! Don't wait; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction." 7 A lion is gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations; he is on his way, he is gone forth from his place, to make your land desolate, that your cities be laid waste, without inhabitant. 8 For this clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Yahweh hasn't turned back from us. 9 "It shall happen at that day," says Yahweh, "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." 10 Then I said, "Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely you have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 'You shall have peace;' whereas the sword reaches to the heart." 11 At that time shall it 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 to winnow, nor to cleanse; 12 a full wind from these shall come for me. Now I will also utter judgments against them." 13 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots (shall be) as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined. 14 Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you? 15 For a voice declares from Dan, and publishes evil from the hills of Ephraim: 16 "Tell the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, 'Watchers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah. 17 As keepers of a field, they are against her all around, because she has been rebellious against me,'" says Yahweh. 18 "Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness; for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart." 19 My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Destruction on destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, (and) my curtains in a moment. 21 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22 "For my people are foolish, they don't know me. They are foolish children, and they have no understanding. They are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge." 23 I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth. 25 I saw, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the sky had fled. 26 I saw, and behold, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down at the presence of Yahweh, (and) before his fierce anger. 27 For thus says Yahweh, "The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end. 28 For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it." 29 Every city flees for the noise of the horsemen and archers; they go into the thickets, and climb up on the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwells therein. 30 You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck you with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with paint, in vain do you make yourself beautiful; (your) lovers despise you, they seek your life. 31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her who brings forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, who gasps for breath, who spreads her hands, (saying), "Woe is me now! For my soul faints before the murderers."
The conclusion of both sides of the prophecy; to Israel, Jeremiah 4:1-2; to Judah, Jeremiah 4:3-4.
Sequel of the exhortations and promises addressed to Israel in the preceding chapter, Jeremiah 4:1, Jeremiah 4:2. The prophet then addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting to repentance and reformation, that the dreadful visitation with which they were threatened might be averted, Jeremiah 4:3, Jeremiah 4:4. He then sounds the alarm of war, Jeremiah 4:5, Jeremiah 4:6. Nebuchadnezzar, like a fierce lion, is, from the certainty of the prophecy, represented to be on his march; and the disastrous event to have been already declared, Jeremiah 4:7-9. And as the lying prophets had flattered the people with the hopes of peace and safety, they are now introduced, (when their predictions are falsified by the event), excusing themselves; and, with matchless effrontery, laying the blame of the deception upon God, ("And they said," etc., so the text is corrected by Kennicott), Jeremiah 4:10. The prophet immediately resumes his subject; and, in the person of God, denounces again those judgments which were shortly to be inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 4:11-18. The approaching desolation of Jerusalem lamented in language amazingly energetic and exquisitely tender, Jeremiah 4:19-21. The incorrigible wickedness of the people the sole cause of these calamities, Jeremiah 4:22. In the remaining verses the prophet describes the sad catastrophe of Jerusalem by such a beautiful assemblage of the most striking and afflictive circumstances as form a picture of a land "swept with the besom of destruction." The earth seems ready to return to its original chaos; every ray of light is extinguished, and succeeded by a frightful gloom; the mountains tremble, and the hills shake, under the dreadful apprehension of the wrath of Jehovah; all is one awful solitude, where not a vestige of the human race is to be seen. Even the fowls of heaven, finding no longer whereon to subsist, are compelled to migrate; the most fruitful places are become a dark and dreary desert, and every city is a ruinous heap. To complete the whole, the dolorous shrieks of Jerusalem, as of a woman in peculiar agony, break through the frightful gloom; and the appalled prophet pauses, leaving the reader to reflect on the dreadful effects of apostasy and idolatry, Jeremiah 4:23-31.
INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 4
This chapter begins with several exhortations to repentance; first to Israel, or the ten tribes, to return to the Lord with their whole hearts, and put away their abominations, and serve him in sincerity and uprightness of soul; with promises of rest and safety to themselves; and that it would have a happy influence on the Gentiles, and issue in their conversion; who would hereupon bless themselves in the Lord, and glory in him, Jeremiah 4:1, and next to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, to show a concern for renewing and sanctifying grace, signified by various metaphors, lest they should be consumed with the fire of divine wrath, Jeremiah 4:3 and then the destruction of that land and city is foretold and described, partly by what was introductory to it, and the proclamation of it, signified by blowing the trumpet, and setting up the standard, Jeremiah 4:5, by an account of the destroyers, their cruelty, swiftness, and diligence, Jeremiah 4:7, and of the destruction itself, compared to a violent wind, Jeremiah 4:11, by the effect it should have upon the inhabitants of all sorts, high and low, Jeremiah 4:8, and had upon the prophet himself, Jeremiah 4:10, and by the cause and ground of it, the sins of the people, which they are called upon to repent of, Jeremiah 4:14 and by a vision the prophet had of the dreadful desolation of the land, Jeremiah 4:23 and by the vain and false hopes the people would have of their recovery, and the great anxiety and distress they would be in, Jeremiah 4:30.
(Jeremiah 4:1-2) Exhortations and promises.
(Jeremiah 4:3-4) Judah exhorted to repentance.
(Jeremiah 4:5-18) Judgements denounced.
(Jeremiah 4:19-31) The approaching ruin of Judah.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.