Jeremiah 4

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 'If you come back, Israel, Yahweh declares, if you come back to me, if you take your Horrors out of mysight, if you go roving no more,	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.
2 if you swear, "As Yahweh lives!" truthful y, justly, uprightly, then the nations wil bless themselves by him and glory in him.	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.
3 'For Yahweh says this to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, "Clear the ground that lies neglected, do notsow among thorns.	3 For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns:
4 Circumcise yourselves for Yahweh, apply circumcision to your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants ofJerusalem, or my wrath wil leap out like a fire and burn with no one to quench it, in return for the wickedness ofyour deeds." '	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.
5 Announce it in Judah, proclaim it in Jerusalem, say, 'Sound the trumpet in the countryside, shout themessage aloud: Mobilise! Take to the fortified towns!	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.
6 Signpost the way to Zion! Run! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, an immensecalamity.	6 Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction.
7 The lion is up from his thicket, the destroyer of nations is on his way, he has come from his home toreduce your land to a desert; your towns wil be in ruins, uninhabited.	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.
8 So wrap yourselves in sackcloth, lament and wail, since Yahweh's burning anger has not turned awayfrom us.	8 For this gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us.
9 'That day,' Yahweh declares, 'the king's heart will fail him, the princes' hearts wil fail them too, thepriests wil stand aghast, the prophets stupefied.'	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
10 Then I said, 'Ah, Lord Yahweh, how sadly you deceived this people and Jerusalem when you used tosay, "You wil have peace," whereas the sword is now at our throats!	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?
11 When that time comes, this wil be said to this people and to Jerusalem: The scorching wind from thedesert heights comes towards the daughter of my people -and not to winnow or to cleanse!	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.
12 A gale of wind comes to me from over there. Now I myself shal pass sentence on them!'	12 A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them.
13 Look, he is advancing like the clouds, his chariots like a hurricane, his horses swifter than eagles.Disaster for us! We are lost!	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.
14 Wash your heart clean of wickedness, Jerusalem, and so be saved. How long wil you go onharbouring your pernicious thoughts?	14 Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst be saved: how long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee?
15 For a voice from Dan shouts the news, proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.	15 For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from mount Ephraim.
16 Report it to the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem, 'Enemies are coming from a distant country, shoutingtheir war cry against the towns of Judah;	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.
17 they surround her like watchmen round a field because she has rebel ed against me', Yahwehdeclares.	17 They are set round about her, as keepers of fields: because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord.
18 'Your own behaviour and actions have brought this on yourself. Your wickedness, how bitter, hasstabbed you to the heart!'	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.
19 In the pit of my stomach how great my agony! Walls of my heart! My heart is throbbing! I cannot keepquiet, for I have heard the trumpet call, the battle cry.	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.
20 Ruin on ruin is the news: the whole land is laid waste, my tents are suddenly destroyed, in one momental that sheltered me.	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.
21 How long must I see the standard and hear the trumpet cal ?	21 How long shall I see men fleeing away, how long shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 'This is because my people are stupid, they do not know me, they are slow-witted children, they haveno understanding, they are clever enough at doing wrong, but do not know how to do right.'	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.
23 I looked to the earth -- it was a formless waste; to the heavens, and their light had gone.	23 I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them.
24 I looked to the mountains -- they were quaking and al the hil s rocking to and fro.	24 I looked upon the mountains, and behold they trembled: and all the hills were troubled.
25 I looked -- there was no one at all, the very birds of heaven had al fled.	25 I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air were gone.
26 I looked -- the fruitful land was a desert, all its towns in ruins before Yahweh, before his burning anger.	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.
27 Yes, Yahweh has said this, 'The whole country wil be laid waste, though I shall not annihilate itcompletely.	27 For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I will not utterly destroy.
28 For this, the earth wil go into mourning and the heavens above grow dark. For I have spoken, I havedecided, I shal not change my mind or go back on 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.
29 At the din of horseman and archer the entire city takes to flight: some plunge into the thickets, othersscale the rocks; every town is abandoned, not a single person is left there.	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.
30 And, once despoiled, what are you going to do? You may dress yourself in scarlet, put on ornaments ofgold, enlarge your eyes with paint but you make yourself pretty in vain. Your former lovers disdain you, your lifeis what they are seeking.	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.
31 Yes, I hear screams like those of a woman in labour, anguish like that of a woman giving birth to herfirst child; they are the screams of the daughter of Zion, gasping, hands outstretched, 'Unhappy me! I am dying,the murderers have kil ed me!'	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.