Jeremiah 4

DOUAI-RHEIMS	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumblingblocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved.	1 If you wish to return, O Israel, says the LORD, return to me. If you put your detestable things out of my sight, and do not stray,
2 And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall praise him.	2 Then you can swear, "As the LORD lives," in truth, in judgment, and in justice; Then shall the nations use his name in blessing, and glory in him.
3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns:	3 For to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, thus says the LORD: Till your untilled ground, sow not among thorns.
4 Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none that can quench it: because of the wickedness of your thoughts.	4 For the sake of the LORD, be circumcised, remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem; Lest my anger break out like fire, and burn till none can quench it, because of your evil deeds.
5 Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and sound with the trumpet in the land: cry aloud, and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities.	5 Proclaim it in Judah, make it heard in Jerusalem; Blow the trumpet through the land, summon the recruits! Say, "Fall in, let us march to the fortified cities."
6 Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.	6 Bear the standard to Zion, seek refuge without delay! Evil I bring from the north, and great destruction.
7 The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place, to make thy land desolate: thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant.	7 Up comes the lion from his lair, the destroyer of nations has set out, has left his place, To turn your land into desolation, till your cities lie waste and empty.
8 For this gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.	8 So gird yourselves with sackcloth, mourn and wail: "The blazing wrath of the LORD is not turned away from us."
9 And it shall come to pass in 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 be amazed	9 In that day, says the LORD, The king will lose heart, and the princes; the priests will be amazed, and the prophets stunned.
10 And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul?	10 "Alas! Lord GOD," they will say, "You only deceived us When you said: Peace shall be yours; for the sword touches our very soul."
11 At that time it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse.	11 At that time it will be said of this people and of Jerusalem, "From the glaring heights through the desert a wind comes toward the daughter of my people." Not to winnow, not to cleanse,
12 A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them.	12 does this wind from the heights come at my bidding; And I myself now pronounce sentence upon them.
13 Behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles: woe unto us, for we are laid waste.	13 See! like storm clouds he advances, like a hurricane his chariots; Swifter than eagles are his steeds: "Woe to us! we are ruined."
14 Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst be saved: how long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee?	14 Cleanse your heart of evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long must your pernicious thoughts lodge within you?
15 For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from mount Ephraim.	15 Listen! They proclaim it from Dan, from Mount Ephraim they announce destruction:
16 Say ye to the nations: Behold it is heard in Jerusalem, that guards are coming from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Juda.	16 "Make this known to the nations, announce it to Jerusalem: The besiegers are coming from the distant land, shouting their war cry against the cities of Judah."
17 They are set round about her, as keepers of fields: because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.	17 Like watchmen of the fields they surround her, for she has rebelled against me, says the LORD.
18 They ways, and thy devices have brought these things upon thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it hath touched thy heart.	18 Your conduct, your misdeeds, have done this to you; how bitter is this disaster of yours, how it reaches to your very heart!
19 My bowels, my bowels are in pain, the senses of my heart are troubled within me, I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle.	19 My breast! my breast! how I suffer! The walls of my heart! My heart beats wildly, I cannot be still; For I have heard the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction upon destruction is called for, and all the earth is laid waste: my tents are destroyed on a sudden, and my pavilions in a moment.	20 Ruin after ruin is reported; the whole earth is laid waste. In an instant my tents are ravaged; in a flash, my shelters.
21 How long shall I see men fleeing away, how long shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?	21 How long must I see that signal, hear that trumpet sound!
22 For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and senseless children: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.	22 Fools my people are, they know me not; Senseless children they are, having no understanding; They are wise in evil, but know not how to do good.
23 I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them.	23 I looked at the earth, and it was waste and void; at the heavens, and their light had gone out!
24 I looked upon the mountains, and behold they trembled: and all the hills were troubled.	24 I looked at the mountains, and they were trembling, and all the hills were crumbling!
25 I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air were gone.	25 I looked and behold, there was no man; even the birds of the air had flown away!
26 I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of his indignation.	26 I looked and behold, the garden land was a desert, with all its cities destroyed before the LORD, before his blazing wrath.
27 For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I will not utterly destroy.	27 For thus says the LORD: Waste shall the whole land be; I will (not) wholly destroy it.
28 The earth shall mourn, and the heavens shall lament from above: because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not repented, neither am I turned away from it.	28 Because of this the earth shall mourn, the heavens above shall darken; I have spoken, I will not repent, I have resolved, I will not turn back.
29 At the voice of the horsemen, and the archers, all the city is fled away; they have entered into thickets and have climbed up the rocks: all the cities are forsaken, and there dwelleth not a man in them.	29 At the shout of horseman and bowman each city takes to flight; They shrink into the thickets, they scale the rocks: All the cities are abandoned, and no one dwells in them.
30 But when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life.	30 You now who are doomed, what do you mean by putting on purple, bedecking yourself with gold, Shading your eyes with cosmetics, beautifying yourself in vain? Your lovers spurn you, they seek your life.
31 For I have heard the voice as of a woman in travail, anguishes as of a woman in labor of a child. The voice of the daughter of Sion, dying away, spreading her hands: Woe is me, for my soul hath fainted because of them that are slain.	31 Yes, I hear the moaning, as of a woman in travail, like the anguish of a mother with her first child- The cry of daughter Zion gasping, as she stretches forth her hands: "Ah, woe is me! I sink exhausted before the slayers!"