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Jeremias 4

BLIVRE · Chapter 4/52

1Se te converteres, ó Israel,diz o SENHOR, converte-te a mim; e se tirares tuas abominações de diante de mim, não andarás mais sem rumo.

2E jurarás, dizendo, Vive o SENHOR, com verdade, com juízo, e com justiça; e nele as nações se bendirão, e nele se orgulharão.

3Porque assim diz o SENHOR aos homens de Judá e de Jerusalém: Fazei lavoura para vós, e não semeeis sobre espinhos.

4Circuncidai-vos ao SENHOR, e tirai os prepúcios de vosso coração, ó homens de Judá e moradores de Jerusalém; para que minha ira não venha a sair como fogo, e se incendeie, e não haja quem apague, pela maldade de vossas obras.

5Anunciai em Judá, e fazei ouvir em Jerusalém, e dizei: Tocai trombeta na terra. Clamai em alta voz, e dizei: Ajuntai-vos, e entremos nas cidades fortes.

6Erguei bandeia para Sião, retirai-vos, não vos detenhais; porque eu trago um mal do norte, e grande destruição.

7O leão já subiu de seu refúgio, e o destruidor de nações já se partiu; ele saiu de seu lugar para pôr tua terra em assolação; tuas cidades serão destruídas, de modo que não haja [nelas] morador.

8Por isso vesti-vos de saco, lamentai e uivai; porque o ardor da ira do SENHOR não se desviou de nós.

9E será naquele dia, diz o SENHOR, que o coração do rei e o coração dos príncipes desfalecerão; os sacerdotes ficarão pasmos, e os profetas se maravilharão.

10Então eu disse: Ah, Senhor DEUS! Verdadeiramente enganaste grandemente a este povo e a Jerusalém, dizendo: Tereis paz; porém a espada chega até a alma.

11Naquele tempo se dirá a este povo e a Jerusalém: Um vento seco dos lugares altos do deserto [veio] ao caminho da filha do meu povo; não para padejar, nem para limpar;

12Um vento forte demais para estas coisas virá de mim; agora também eu pronunciarei juízos contra eles.

13Eis que ele virá subindo como as nuvens, e suas carruagens como o redemoinho de vento; seus cavalos serão mais velozes que as águias;Ai de nós, porque somos assolados!

14Lava teu coração da maldade para que sejas salva; ó Jerusalém! Até quando deixarás os teus meus pensamentos permanecerem em meio a ti?

15Porque uma voz se anuncia desde Dã, e fala de calamidade desde o monte de Efraim:

16Disto mencionai às nações: eis aqui! Proclamai contra Jerusalém: Guardas vêm de uma terra remota, e levantam sua voz contra as cidades de Judá.

17Como guardas dos campos, assim eles estão ao redor contra ela; pois ela se rebelou contra mim,diz o SENHOR.

18Teu caminho e teus atos te causaram estas coisas; esta é tua maldade, tão amarga, que chega ao teu coração.

19Ai minhas entranhas, minhas entranhas! Estou com grandes dores nas paredes do meu coração; meu coração se inquieta, não consigo me calar; porque tu, ó alma minha, ouves o som da trombeta, o clamor da guerra.

20Destruição sobre destruição se anuncia, pois toda a terra já está arruinada; de repente foram destruídas minhas tendas, num instante minhas cortinas.

21Até quando verei a bandeira, [e] ouvirei a voz da trombeta?

22De fato meu povo está louco, já não me conhecem; são filhos tolos, sem entendimento; são “sábios” para fazer o mal, mas para fazer o bem nada sabem.

23Vi a terra, e eis que estava sem forma e vazia; e [vi] os céus, e não tinham sua luz.

24Vi os montes, e eis que estavam tremendo; e todos os morros se sacudiam.

25Vi, e eis que nenhum homem havia; e todas as aves do céu tinham fugido.

26Vi, e eis que a terra fértil [tinha se tornado] um deserto, e todas as suas cidades foram derrubadas, por causa do SENHOR, por causa do ardor de sua ira.

27Porque assim diz o SENHOR: Toda esta terra será assolada; porém não [a] destruirei por completo.

28Por isto a terra lamentará, e os céus acima se tornarão negros; porque [assim] falei, [assim] o propus, e não me arrependerei, nem desviarei disso.

29Do ruído dos cavaleiros e dos flecheiros, [os moradores de] todas as cidades fugirão; entrarão nos bosques, e subirão em penhascos; todas as cidades ficarão abandonadas, e não haverá nelas morador algum.

30E que farás tu, ó assolada? Ainda que te vistas de vermelho, ainda que te adornes com ornamentos de ouro, ainda que pintes teus olhos, em vão te enfeitarias; os [teus] amantes te desprezam, [e] buscarão [matar] a tua alma.

31Porque ouço uma voz, como de mulher que está de parto, uma angústia como de parto de primeiro filho; é a voz da filha de Sião, que lamenta e estende suas mãos, [dizendo] : Ai de mim agora! Pois minha alma desmaia por causa dos assassinos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jeremiah calls the people to genuine repentance and describes, in a vision, the devastation that will come from the north like a scorching, destructive wind, leaving the land empty as it was at the beginning of creation.

Explanation

The expression 'circumcise your hearts' shows that the outward rite (physical circumcision) without inner change had no value — a theme Paul would return to centuries later in Romans. The images of destruction ('the earth was without form and void') deliberately echo Genesis 1:2, as if disobedience were undoing creation. The 'dry wind from the heights of the desert' refers to real east winds that blew from the Arabian desert, drying up everything in their path — a perfect symbol of judgment. Jeremiah's personal anguish ('my bowels, my bowels') shows that announcing bad news also hurts the one announcing it, something real for anyone who has to speak a hard truth.

Fun facts

  • The 'east wind' from the desert (known today by the Arabic name 'khamsin' or sirocco) is a real climatic phenomenon of the region, hot and dry, used here as a symbol of judgment coming from the desert.
  • The phrase 'without form and void' is the same Hebrew expression as Genesis 1:2, a literary device to portray judgment as a reversal of creation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremias 4:1God invites Israel to truly return, with one practical condition: remove the idols. Only then will the people stop wandering aimlessly, both spiritually and politically.
  2. Jeremias 4:2If the return is sincere, even other nations will benefit and recognize God through Israel - picking back up the ancient promise made to Abraham to bless all the families of the earth.
  3. Jeremias 4:3Agricultural image: sowing among thorns wastes the seed, because the weeds will choke everything. It is a call to truly prepare the heart before trying to approach God again.
  4. Jeremias 4:4Circumcising the heart takes a very concrete physical rite of Judaism and turns it into a metaphor: keeping the sign of the covenant on the body means nothing if the same wickedness continues inside. It is a demand for sincerity, not for ritual.
  5. Jeremias 4:5The war alarm begins: the trumpet is the emergency signal for the people to run from the countryside into the walls of the fortified cities, seeking protection from the approaching enemy.
  6. Jeremias 4:6Another alarm signal, this time pointing toward Zion, Jerusalem, as the destination of the flight - confirming once more that the danger comes from the north, that is, from Babylon.
  7. Jeremias 4:7The Babylonian enemy is compared to a lion that has already left its den, about to attack - the threat has stopped being hypothetical and is now on the move.
  8. Jeremias 4:8Putting on sackcloth was the public mourning of the time. Facing what is coming, all that is left is to mourn openly, because this time God's anger will not be turned aside.
  9. Jeremias 4:9When the invasion arrives, not even the leaders will know what to do: king, princes, priests, and prophets will all be paralyzed with panic, with no solution to offer the people.
  10. Jeremias 4:10Jeremiah even complains to God, saying He deceived the people by promising peace. It is worth remembering that this deceptive promise of peace actually came from the false prophets (see 6:14 and 8:11), not from God - the prophet speaks out of desperation, in a moment of shock.
  11. Jeremias 4:11Uses the image of a wind too strong even to separate the grain from the chaff, the normal harvest process. This wind does not come to purify, only to destroy - it symbolizes the approaching attack.
  12. Jeremias 4:12God makes clear that this destroying wind comes by His own order - the judgment announced is not some random natural disaster, it is a direct response to the people's unfaithfulness.
  13. Jeremias 4:13Describes the enemy army approaching too fast to escape, chariots like a storm, horses swifter than eagles. Jeremiah himself joins in the cry: ‘Woe unto us!’
  14. Jeremias 4:14There is still a last-minute appeal: washing the heart, not just the body, is the only way out to escape the disaster already on its way.
  15. Jeremias 4:15Dan, in the far north, and Mount Ephraim, further toward the center, mark the path along which news of the invasion keeps arriving, ever closer to Jerusalem.
  16. Jeremias 4:16God commands that the news be spread even to distant nations: watchers, that is, enemy troops, are coming from far away to besiege the cities of Judah.
  17. Jeremias 4:17Compares the enemy siege to the work of watchmen guarding a field, except here it is to destroy, not protect - and the reason given is clear: the people's rebellion against God.
  18. Jeremias 4:18God repeats that the cause of the tragedy is the people's own conduct, not some divine whim - and the pain of this consequence will be felt deep down, even to the heart.
  19. Jeremias 4:19Here it is Jeremiah speaking, not God: the prophet expresses his own physical and emotional anguish at the sound of the approaching war, as if he felt the pain in his own body.
  20. Jeremias 4:20Jeremiah continues describing, in the first person, the sudden and total destruction that already seems to be happening before his eyes, like a vision of the future being lived out in the present.
  21. Jeremias 4:21Exhausted, Jeremiah asks how long this scene of constant war will last - a personal lament in the middle of the prophetic announcement.
  22. Jeremias 4:22It is God speaking again: He describes the people as skilled only at doing evil, but incapable of doing good - an intelligence twisted and pointed in the wrong direction.
  23. Jeremias 4:23The vision of the empty earth and lightless skies uses almost the same words as Genesis 1, when the earth still had no form. It is creation being undone, in reverse: the destruction coming on Judah is described as an unmaking of creation itself.
  24. Jeremias 4:24Jeremiah's vision of cosmic disorder continues: even the mountains, which seemed like the most stable features of the landscape, tremble before the destruction.
  25. Jeremias 4:25Jeremiah's vision shows a completely emptied land, without people or birds - a scene of total desolation, as if all life had disappeared.
  26. Jeremias 4:26The land that used to be fertile becomes a wilderness, and the cities fall because of God's anger - closing the sequence of images that describes the destruction as an undoing of creation.
  27. Jeremias 4:27In the middle of so much announced destruction, God leaves an important reservation: the devastation will be great, but not total - there remains an implied promise that a remnant will survive.
  28. Jeremias 4:28God reinforces that this judgment decision is final, already made and announced - it will not be reversed, no matter how much it grieves even creation itself, represented by the earth and the darkened sky.
  29. Jeremias 4:29Describes the general panic: at the mere sound of the approaching cavalry and archers, people already abandon the cities and flee to hide among the rocks.
  30. Jeremias 4:30Returns to the image of the unfaithful woman: even dressing up and putting on makeup to look attractive, a reference to seeking political alliances, her former allies will abandon her and even try to kill her.
  31. Jeremias 4:31Compares the suffering of Jerusalem, called ‘the daughter of Zion,’ to the pains of a first labor - an image of sharp pain and helplessness as the killers draw near.

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