Jeremiah 4:16

Contemporary English Version

The Lord said, "Tell the nations that my people have rebelled against me. And so an army will come from far away to surround Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. I, the Lord , have spoken.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Warn the nations: Look!Proclaim to Jerusalem:Those who besiege are comingfrom a distant land;they raise their voicesagainst the cities of Judah.

Hebrew Names Version
make you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Yerushalayim, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Yehudah.

King James Version
Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

English Standard Version
Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

New American Standard Bible
"Report it to the nations, now! Proclaim to Jerusalem, 'Enemies are coming from a remote country, And they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

New Century Version
"Report this to the nations. Spread this news in Jerusalem: ‘Invaders are coming from a faraway country, shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.

Amplified Bible
"Warn the [neighboring] nations now [that our enemy is coming]! Announce to Jerusalem, 'Besiegers are coming from a far country, And they lift their voices and shout against the cities of Judah.

World English Bible
make you mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Make ye mention of the heathen, and publish in Ierusalem, Beholde, the skoutes come from a farre countrey, and crie out against the cities of Iudah.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!'Make it heard over Jerusalem,‘Besiegers come from a far country,And give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.

Berean Standard Bible
Warn the nations now! Proclaim to Jerusalem: "A besieging army comes from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

Complete Jewish Bible
"Report it to the nations, proclaim about Yerushalayim: ‘[Enemies] are coming from a distant country, watching and shouting their war cry against the cities of Y'hudah.'

Darby Translation
Inform the nations; behold, make Jerusalem to hear: Besiegers come from a far country, and raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Report it to this nation. Spread the news to the people in Jerusalem. Enemies are coming from a faraway country. They are shouting words of war against the cities of Judah.

George Lamsa Translation
Make mention to the nations and publish to Jerusalem, Behold, multitudes of Gentiles are coming from a far country, and they shall shout against the cities of Judah.

Good News Translation
They have come to warn the nations and to tell Jerusalem that enemies are coming from a country far away. These enemies will shout against the cities of Judah

Lexham English Bible
"Report to the nations, ‘Here they are!' Proclaim against Jerusalem, ‘Besiegers are coming from a distant land, and they raise their voice against the cities of Judah.'

Literal Translation
Tell it to the nations: Behold, proclaim against Jerusalem, Besiegers are coming from a distant land and will set their voice against the cities of Judah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Beholde, the Heithen geue Ierusalem warnynge, and preach vnto her, that hir destroyers are comynge from farre countrees. They tell the cities of Iuda the same also,

American Standard Version
Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

Bible in Basic English
Make this come to the minds of the nations, make a statement openly against Jerusalem, that attackers are coming from a far country and their voices will be loud against the towns of Judah.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Make ye mention to the nations: behold--publish concerning Jerusalem--watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.'

King James Version (1611)
Make ye mention to the nations, behold, publish against Ierusalem, that watchers come from a farre countrey, and giue out their voice against the cities of Iudah.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Remember the heathen, and geue Hierusalem warning, and preache vnto her, that watchers ouer her are commyng from farre countries, they haue cryed out against the cities of Iuda.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Remind ye the nations; behold, they are come: proclaim it in Jerusalem, that bands are approaching from a land afar off, and have uttered their voice against the cities of Juda.

English Revised Version
make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Reise, ye folkis; lo! it is herd in Jerusalem that keperis ben comun fro a fer lond, and yyuen her vois on the citees of Juda.

Update Bible Version
make mention to the nations; Look, publish against Jerusalem [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

Webster's Bible Translation
Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

New English Translation
They are saying, ‘Announce to the surrounding nations, "The enemy is coming!" Proclaim this message to Jerusalem: "Those who besiege cities are coming from a distant land. They are ready to raise the battle cry against the towns in Judah."'

New King James Version
"Make mention to the nations, Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem, That watchers come from a far country And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.

New Living Translation
"Warn the surrounding nations and announce this to Jerusalem: The enemy is coming from a distant land, raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah.

New Life Bible
"Tell it to the nations now! Make it known over all Jerusalem, saying, ‘An army is coming from a far country, and they lift up their voices against the cities of Judah.

New Revised Standard
Tell the nations, "Here they are!" Proclaim against Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Put ye in mind the nations Lo! publish ye against Jerusalem, Blockaders! are coming in from a land afar off, - And have uttered against the cities of Judah their voice:

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
Warn the nations that he is coming; announce to Jerusalem, "Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah.

Young's Literal Translation
Make ye mention to the nations, Lo, sound ye to Jerusalem: `Besiegers are coming from the land afar off, And they give forth against cities of Judah their voice.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Report it to the nations, now! Proclaim over Jerusalem, 'Besiegers come from a far country, And lift their voices against the cities of Judah.

Contextual Overview

⁵ The Lord said: "Sound the trumpets, my people. Warn the people of Judah, ‘Run for your lives! ⁶ Head for Jerusalem or another walled town!' "Jeremiah, tell them I'm sending disaster from the north. ⁷ An army will come out, like a lion from its den. It will destroy nations and leave your towns empty and in ruins." ⁸ Then I said to the people of Israel, "Put on sackcloth! Mourn and cry out, ‘The Lord is still angry with us.'" ⁹ The Lord said, "When all this happens, the king and his officials, the prophets and the priests will be shocked and terrified." ¹⁰ I said, "You are the Lord God. So why have you fooled everyone, especially the people of Jerusalem? Why did you promise peace, when a knife is at our throats?" ¹¹When disaster comes, the Lord will tell you people of Jerusalem, "I am sending a windstorm from the desert— not a welcome breeze. And it will sweep you away as punishment for your sins. < ¹³ Look! The enemy army swoops down like an eagle; their cavalry and chariots race faster than storm clouds blown by the wind." Then you will answer, "We are doomed!" ¹⁴ But Jerusalem, there is still time for you to be saved. Wash the evil from your hearts and stop making sinful plans, ¹⁵ before a message of disaster arrives from the hills of Ephraim and the town of Dan.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

ye: Jeremiah 6:18, Jeremiah 31:10, Jeremiah 50:2, Isaiah 34:1

watchers: Jeremiah 4:17, Jeremiah 5:6, Jeremiah 16:6, Jeremiah 39:1

from: Jeremiah 5:15, Deuteronomy 28:49-52, Isaiah 39:3

give out: Jeremiah 2:15, Ezekiel 21:22

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 1:15 - and against Jeremiah 6:3 - they shall Jeremiah 8:16 - was heard Jeremiah 8:19 - the voice Jeremiah 15:8 - the mother

Cross-References

Genesis 3:8
Late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow, and the man and woman heard the Lord God walking in the garden. They were frightened and hid behind some trees.

Genesis 4:14
"You're making me leave my home and live far from you. I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me."

Exodus 20:18
The people trembled with fear when they heard the thunder and the trumpet and saw the lightning and the smoke coming from the mountain. They stood a long way off

2 Kings 13:23
But the Lord was kind to the Israelites and showed them mercy because of his solemn agreement with their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, he has never turned his back on them or let them be completely destroyed.

2 Kings 24:20
It was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the Lord so angry that he finally turned his back on them. That's why these horrible things were happening.

Job 1:12
The Lord replied, "All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don't harm Job." Then Satan left.

Job 2:7
Satan left and caused painful sores to break out all over Job's body—from head to toe.

Job 20:17
and never enjoy rivers flowing with milk and honey.

Psalms 5:11
Let all who run to you for protection always sing joyful songs. Provide shelter for those who truly love you and let them rejoice.

Psalms 68:2
Scatter them like smoke! When you come near, make them melt like wax in a fire.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Make ye mention to the nations,.... This, according to Kimchi, is the sum and substance of the voice from Dan. It seems to be a summons to the nations to gather together to join the king of Babylon in his enterprise against Jerusalem; see 2 Kings 24:2:

publish against Jerusalem; what follows:

that watchers come from afar country; from Babylon, which is said to be a far country, Isaiah 39:3, these are the soldiers of the king of Babylon; they are called Notzerim; which word agrees with the latter part of Nebuchadnezzar's name; to which some b think there is some reference, showing that his army is meant. It should be rendered "besiegers", as it is by some c; for these were not Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, but his whole army, who were come up to besiege Jerusalem; and they are compared to watchers and keepers of a field in the next verse, where another word is used. The Targum is,

"the army of a rapacious people, like the grape gatherers, come from a far country:''

and give out their voice against the cities of Judah; threaten the ruin of them; blow the trumpet, the alarm of war; give the orders to besiege; and, being sure of victory, triumph before the attack is made.

b R. Joseph Kimchi, R. Jonah, and Ben Melech, but disapproved of by Abarbinel. c נצרים "obsessores", Calvin, Buxtorf; a צור, vel צרר, "obsedit"; so Jarchi.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Proclaim ye to the pagan, “Behold!” Cry aloud concerning “Jerusalem, that watchers” are on their way “from a far country: and” will “give out their voice against the cities of Judah.” The pagan are summoned to witness the chastisement of Jerusalem, that they may take warning thereby. By “watchers” are meant besiegers, who will surround the city with a line of sentinels.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 4:16. Watchers come from a far country — Persons to besiege fortified places.