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CHAPTER 4
1 Israel, if thou turnest again, saith the Lord, turn thou (again) to me; if thou takest away thine offendings from my face, thou shalt not be moved. (Israel, if thou shalt return to me, saith the Lord, then return thou to me; if thou takest away thy offences from before my face, then thou shalt not be shaken out.)
2 And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, and in doom, and in rightfulness; and all folks shall bless him, and shall praise him. (And if thou shalt swear, As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in righteousness, or in truth, and in justice, and in uprightness; then all the nations shall ask me to bless them like you, and they shall praise me.)
3 For the Lord God saith these things to a man of Judah, and to a dweller of Jerusalem (or and to an inhabitant of Jerusalem), Make ye new to you a land tilled of new, either a fallow (land), and do not ye sow on thorns.
4 Men of Judah, and dwellers of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, either filths, of your hearts; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none there be that quench, for the malice of your thoughts. (People of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the service of the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, or the filths, of your hearts; lest perhaps my indignation go out like fire, and be kindled, and there be no one who can quench it, for the malice of your thoughts.)
5 Tell ye in Judah, and make ye heard in Jerusalem; speak ye, and sing ye with a trump in the land; cry ye strongly, and say ye, Be ye gathered together, and enter we into [the] strong cities.
6 Raise ye a sign in Zion, comfort ye, and do not ye stand, (or Raise ye up a sign in Zion, escape ye, and do not ye just stand there); for I [shall] bring evil from the north, and a great sorrow.
7 A lion shall go up from his den, and the robber of folks shall raise himself. He is gone out of his place, to set thy land into wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, abiding still without (a) dweller. (A lion shall go up from his den, yea, the robber of the nations shall raise himself up. He is gone out of his place, to make thy land into a wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, and their remains, or their ruins, shall be without any inhabitants.)
8 On this thing gird you(rselves) with hair-shirts; wail ye, and yell, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away from you.
9 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of princes; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonied. (And it shall be, on that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king, and the hearts of the princes, or of the leaders, shall perish, or shall fail them; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonished.)
10 And I said, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therefore whether thou hast deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be to you, and lo! a sword is come unto the soul? (or and behold! a sword is come unto our souls?/!)
11 In that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind in the ways that be in desert, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge. (At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, Like a burning wind on the ways that be in the wilderness, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge.)
12 A spirit full of them shall come to me; and now I, but I shall speak my dooms with them. (A strong wind shall come to them at my command; and now I shall tell out my judgement against them.)
13 Lo! he shall ascend as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest, (or Behold! the enemy shall ascend like a cloud, and his chariots like a tempest); his horses be swifter than eagles; woe to us, for we be destroyed.
14 Thou Jerusalem, wash thine heart from malice, that thou be made safe (or so that thou can be saved). How long shall harmful thoughts dwell in thee?
15 For why the voice of a teller from Dan, and making known an idol from the hill(s) of Ephraim.
16 Raise, ye folks; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that keepers be come from a far land, and give their voice on the cities of Judah. (Raise up, ye nations; behold! it is heard in Jerusalem, that enemies have come from a far land, and shout out their voices against the cities of Judah.)
17 As the keepers of fields, they be made on it in compass; for it stirred me to wrathfulness, saith the Lord. (Like the guardians of a field, they stand all around it, and come against it; for it stirred me to anger, saith the Lord.)
18 Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart. (Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought these things to thee; this is thy malice, for it is bitter, and it hath touched thy heart.)
19 My womb acheth, my womb acheth; the wits of mine heart be troubled in me. I shall not be still, for my soul heard the voice of a trump, the cry of battle.
20 Sorrow is called on sorrow, and all the land is destroyed; my tabernacles be wasted suddenly, my skins be wasted suddenly, (or my tents suddenly be destroyed, my curtains suddenly be all torn in pieces).
21 How long shall I see them that flee, shall I hear the voice of a clarion? (How long shall I see those who attack, shall I hear the sound of the trumpet?)
22 For my fond people knew not me; they be unwise sons, and cowards; they be wise to do evils, but they know not (how) to do well. (For my foolish people knew me not; they be unwise sons and daughters, and cowards; they be wise in doing evil, but they do not know how to do good.)
23 I beheld the land, and lo! it was void, and nought; and I beheld heavens, and no light there was in them, (or and I beheld the heavens, and there was no light in them).
24 I saw (the) mountains, and lo! they were moved, (or and behold! they were shaken), and all (the) little hills were troubled.
25 I looked, and no man there was, and each bird of heaven was gone away. (I looked, and there was no one, and each bird of the heavens had gone away.)
26 I beheld, and lo! Carmel is forsaken, and all cities thereof be destroyed from the face of the Lord, and from the face of the ire of his strong vengeance. (I beheld, and behold! the plentiful land (was) deserted, and all its cities were destroyed before the Lord, yea, before the anger of his strong vengeance.)
27 For the Lord saith these things, All the land shall be forsaken, but nevertheless, I shall not make a [full] ending.
28 The earth shall mourn, and (the) heavens above shall make sorrow, for that I spake; I thought, and it repented not me, (or I thought, and I shall not repent), neither I am turned away from it.
29 Each city fled from the voice of a knight, and a man shooting an arrow, (or Each city fled from the shouts of the horsemen, and the men shooting arrows); they entered into hard places, and ascended into rocks of stone; all [the] cities be forsaken, and no man dwelleth in them.
30 But what shalt thou (that art to be) destroyed, do? When thou shalt clothe thee with red scarlet, when thou shalt be adorned with a golden brooch, and shalt anoint thine eyes with woman’s ointment, thou shalt be arrayed in vain; thy lovers have despised thee, they shall seek thy soul. (But thou who art doomed, what shalt thou do? Even though thou shalt clothe thyself with red scarlet, and be adorned with a gold brooch, and shalt anoint thine eyes with woman’s ointment, thou shalt be arrayed in vain; for thy lovers despise thee, and they shall seek thy soul or and they shall seek thy life.)
31 For I heard a voice as a woman travailing of child, the anguishes as of a woman childing; the voice of the daughter of Zion among them that die, and spread abroad her hands; Woe to me, for my soul failed for them that be slain. (For I heard a sound like a woman in labour, like the anguishes of a woman giving birth; the voice of the daughter of Zion among those who die, spreading abroad her hands, and saying, Woe to me, for my soul, or my life, failed over those who be killed.)

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© 2001,2010,2011,2012,2013,2015 Terry Noble