If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto me, and {Or, if thou wilt put…and will not wander, and wilt swear…then shall the nations &c. or, then shalt thou swear…and the nations &c.}if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be removed;
and thou shalt swear, As Jehovah liveth, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.
For thus saith Jehovah to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye 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.
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry aloud and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities.
Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.
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 thy land desolate, that thy cities be laid waste, without inhabitant.
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and wail; for the fierce anger of Jehovah is not turned back from us.
And it shall come to pass at that day, saith Jehovah, 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.
Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the life.
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;
{Or, a wind too strong for this}a full wind from these shall come for me: now will I also utter judgments against them.
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are ruined.
O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee?
For {Or, there is a voice of one that declareth &c.}a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of Ephraim.
Make 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.
As keepers of a field are they against her round about, because she hath been rebellious against me, saith Jehovah.
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness; {Or, surely}for it is bitter, {Or, surely}for it reacheth unto thy heart.
My anguish, my anguish! {Another reading is, I will wait patiently}I am pained at {Hebrew: the walls of my heart.}my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because {Or, as otherwised read, my soul heareth}thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment.
How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?
For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills {Or, moved lightly}moved to and fro.
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
I beheld, and, lo, {Or, Carmel}the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before his fierce anger.
For thus saith Jehovah, The whole land shall be a desolation; yet will I not make a full end.
For this shall the earth 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.
Every city fleeth for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they go into the thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city is forsaken, and not a man dwelleth therein.
And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou {Hebrew: rendest.}enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.
For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that gaspeth for breath, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul fainteth before the murderers.
Querverweise zu Jeremia 4,8 Jer 4,8
O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in ashes: make thee mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation; for the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us.
Moab is put to shame; for it is {Or, dismayed}broken down: wail and cry; tell ye it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
Therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the mountains tremble, and their dead bodies are as refuse in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, every one waileth, weeping abundantly.
Wail ye; for the day of Jehovah is at hand; as destruction from {Hebrew: Shaddai. See Genesis 17:1.}the Almighty shall it come.
the Syrians {Or, on the east}before, and the Philistines {Or, on the west}behind; and they {Or, have devoured}shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
And in that day did the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
{Or, Bayith and Dibon are gone up to the high places}They are gone up to {Or, the temple}Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep: Moab waileth {Or, upon}over Nebo, and {Or, upon}over Medeba; on all their heads is baldness, every beard is cut off.
Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for every one is profane and an evil-doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones; strip you, and make you bare, and {Or, put a girdle upon}gird sackcloth upon your loins.
In their streets they gird themselves with sackcloth; on their housetops, and in their broad places, every one waileth, weeping abundantly.
Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Cry and wail, son of man; for it is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel: {Or, terrors by reason of the sword are upon my people}they are delivered over to the sword with my people; smite therefore upon thy thigh.
{Or, Without me they shall bow down &c.}They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Wail ye, Alas for the day!
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.