Jeremiah 4:28-30
New English Translation
28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black.[a]
For I have made my purpose known,[b]
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.”[c]
29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.
30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction,[d]
you accomplish nothing[e] by wearing a beautiful dress,[f]
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow![g]
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you.[h]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 4:28 sn The earth and the heavens are personified here and depicted in the act of mourning and wearing black clothes because of the destruction of the land of Israel.
- Jeremiah 4:28 tn Heb “has spoken and purposed.” This is an example of hendiadys where two verbs are joined by “and” but one is meant to serve as a modifier of the other.
- Jeremiah 4:28 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership that was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.
- Jeremiah 4:30 tn Heb “they seek your life.”
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