Jeremiah 4

Jeremiah · Chapter 4

Jeremiah 4:1

1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.2And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.3For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns.4Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.5Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities.6Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.7The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.8For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.9And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, 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.10Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,12Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them.13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?15For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim.16Make 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.17As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD.18Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart.19My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.20Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment.21How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet?22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.25I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.26I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.27For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.28For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.29The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein.30And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.31For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
1If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove.“If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith Jehovah, if thou wilt return unto me, and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight; then shalt thou not be removed;

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
ifאִם־'im-H0518A
if

אִם (im) : if/whether_or/though 1) if 1a) conditional clauses 1a1) of possible situations 1a2) of impossible situations 1b) oath contexts 1b1) no, not 1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or 1d) when, whenever 1e) since 1f) interrogative particle 1g) but rather

you will returnתָּשׁ֨וּבta-SHUVH7725G
to return: return

שׁוּב (shuv) : return 1) to return, turn back 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to turn back, return 1a1a) to turn back 1a1b) to return, come or go back 1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back 1a1d) of dying 1a1e) of human relations (fig) 1a1f) of spiritual relations (fig) 1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise 1a1f2) to turn away (of God) 1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent 1a1f4) turn back (from evil) 1a1g) of inanimate things 1a1h) in repetition 1b) (Polel) 1b1) to bring back 1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (fig) 1b3) to lead away (enticingly) 1b4) to show turning, apostatise 1c) (Pual) restored (participle) …

O Israelיִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל׀YIS-ra-'ELH3478
Jacob

יַעֲקֹב (ya.a.qov) A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.25.26; son of: Isaac (H3327) and Rebekah (H7259); brother of: Esau (H6215); married to Rachel (H7354), Leah (H3812), Zilpah (H2153) and Bilhah (H1090A); father of: Reuben (H7205), Simeon (H8095), Levi (H3878), Judah (H3063), Dan (H1835H), Naphtali (H5321), Gad (H1410), Asher (H0836), Issachar (H3485), Zebulun (H2074), Dinah (H1783), Joseph (H3130) and Benjamin (H1144); also called Jacob frequently Another name of yis.ra.el (יִשְׂרָאֵל "Israel" H3478) § Jacob = "heel holder" or "supplanter" …

[the] utterance ofנְאֻם־ne-'um-H5002
utterance

נְאֻם (ne.um) 1) (Qal) utterance, declaration (of prophet) 1a) utterance, declaration, revelation (of prophet in ecstatic state) 1b) utterance, declaration (elsewhere always preceding divine name)

Yahwehיְהוָ֛הYAH-wehH3068G
Lord

אֲדֹנָי (a.do.nai) Lord - a title, spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence Another name of ye.ho.vah (יהוה "LORD" H3068G)

to meאֵלַ֖י'e-LAIH0413
to(wards)

אֶל (el) 1) to, toward, unto (of motion) 2) into (limit is actually entered) 2a) in among 3) toward (of direction, not necessarily physical motion) 4) against (motion or direction of a hostile character) 5) in addition to, to 6) concerning, in regard to, in reference to, on account of 7) according to (rule or standard) 8) at, by, against (of one's presence) 9) in between, in within, to within, unto (idea of motion to)

you will returnתָּשׁ֑וּבta-SHUVH7725G
to return: return

שׁוּב (shuv) : return 1) to return, turn back 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to turn back, return 1a1a) to turn back 1a1b) to return, come or go back 1a1c) to return unto, go back, come back 1a1d) of dying 1a1e) of human relations (fig) 1a1f) of spiritual relations (fig) 1a1f1) to turn back (from God), apostatise 1a1f2) to turn away (of God) 1a1f3) to turn back (to God), repent 1a1f4) turn back (from evil) 1a1g) of inanimate things 1a1h) in repetition 1b) (Polel) 1b1) to bring back 1b2) to restore, refresh, repair (fig) 1b3) to lead away (enticingly) 1b4) to show turning, apostatise 1c) (Pual) restored (participle) …

and ifוְאִם־ve-'im-H0518A
if

אִם (im) : if/whether_or/though 1) if 1a) conditional clauses 1a1) of possible situations 1a2) of impossible situations 1b) oath contexts 1b1) no, not 1c) if...if, whether...or, whether...or...or 1d) when, whenever 1e) since 1f) interrogative particle 1g) but rather

you will removeתָּסִ֧ירta-SIRH5493G
departed

יָסוּר (ya.sur) those departing, revolting

detestable things yourשִׁקּוּצֶ֛יךָshi-ku-TZEI-chaH8251
abomination

שִׁקּוּץ (shiq.quts) detestable thing or idol, abominable thing, abomination, idol, detested thing

from before meמִפָּנַ֖יmi-pa-NAIH6440H
face: before

פָּנֶה (pa.neh) : before/to/front 1) face 1a) face, faces 1b) presence, person 1c) face (of seraphim or cherubim) 1d) face (of animals) 1e) face, surface (of ground) 1f) as adv of loc/temp 1f1) before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, before 1g) with prep 1g1) in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of

and notוְלֹ֥אve-LO'H3808
not

לֹא (lo) 1) not, no 1a) not (with verb-absolute prohibition) 1b) not (with modifier-negation) 1c) nothing (subst) 1d) without (with particle) 1e) before (of time) Aramaic equivalent: la (לָא "not" H3809)

you will waverתָנֽוּד׃ta-NUDH5110
to wander

נוּד (nud) 1) to shake, waver, wander, move to and fro, flutter, show grief, have compassion on 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to move to and fro, wander (aimlessly), take flight 1a2) to flutter 1a3) to waver, wave, shake 1a4) to show grief 1a4a) to lament, condole, show sympathy 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to cause to wander (aimlessly) 1b2) to make a wagging, wag (with the head) 1c) (Hithpolel) 1c1) to move oneself to and fro, sway, totter 1c2) to shake oneself 1c3) to bemoan oneself

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.