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26 I looked and saw that the fruitful land had become a desert
and that all the cities had been laid in ruins.
The Lord had brought this all about
because of his blazing anger.[a]
27 All this will happen because the Lord said,[b]
“The whole land will be desolate;
however, I will not completely destroy it.
28 Because of this the land will mourn
and the sky above will grow black.[c]
For I have made my purpose known,[d]
and I will not relent or turn back from carrying it out.”[e]

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 4:26 tn Heb “because of the Lord, because of his blazing anger.”
  2. Jeremiah 4:27 tn Heb “For this is what the Lord said.”
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Jeremiah 4:28 tn Heb “will not turn back from it.”

26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;(A)
    all its towns lay in ruins(B)
    before the Lord, before his fierce anger.(C)

27 This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,(D)
    though I will not destroy(E) it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourn(F)
    and the heavens above grow dark,(G)
because I have spoken and will not relent,(H)
    I have decided and will not turn back.(I)

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