Jeremiah 4:30 “And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself…”

Jeremiah 4:30

And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

World English Bible

You, when you are made desolate, what will you do? Though you clothe yourself with scarlet, though you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your eyes with makeup, you make yourself beautiful in vain. Your lovers despise you. They seek your life.

American Standard Version

And thou, when thou art made desolate, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou enlargest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair; thy lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

Geneva Bible 1599

And when thou shalt be destroyed, what wilt thou doe? Though thou clothest thy selfe with skarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of golde, though thou paintest thy face with colours, yet shalt thou trimme thy selfe in vaine: for thy louers will abhorre thee and seeke thy life.

Darby Translation

— And thou, wasted one, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rendest thine eyes with paint, in vain dost thou make thyself fair: [thy] lovers despise thee, they seek thy life.

Young's Literal Translation

And thou, O spoiled one, what dost thou? For thou puttest on scarlet, For thou adornest thyself [with] ornaments of gold. For thou rendest with pain thine eyes, In vain thou dost make thyself fair, Kicked against thee have doting ones, Thy life they do seek.

Bible in Basic English

And you, when you are made waste, what will you do? Though you are clothed in red, though you make yourself beautiful with ornaments of gold, though you make your eyes wide with paint, it is for nothing that you make yourself fair; your lovers have no more desire for you, they have designs on your life.

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Cross references

“And when”

Isaiah 10:3 Jeremiah 13:21 Isaiah 20:6 Jeremiah 5:31 Isaiah 33:14 Hebrews 2:3

Isaiah 10:3 · BSB

What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

Jeremiah 13:21 · BSB

What will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?

Isaiah 20:6 · BSB

And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”

Jeremiah 5:31 · BSB

The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

Isaiah 33:14 · BSB

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

Hebrews 2:3 · BSB

how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

“Though”

Ezekiel 28:13 Ezekiel 28:9 Revelation 17:4 Ezekiel 23:40 Ezekiel 23:41

Ezekiel 28:13 · BSB

You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepar…

Ezekiel 28:9 · BSB

Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.

Revelation 17:4 · BSB

The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

Ezekiel 23:40 · BSB

Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.

Ezekiel 23:41 · BSB

You sat on a couch of luxury with a table spread before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil,

“face”

2 Kings 9:30

2 Kings 9:30 · BSB

Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

“in vain”

Lamentations 1:2 Lamentations 1:19 Ezekiel 16:36–41 Ezekiel 23:22–24 Jeremiah 22:20–22 Lamentations 4:17

Lamentations 1:2 · BSB

She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

Lamentations 1:19 · BSB

I called out to my lovers, but they have betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.

Ezekiel 16:36–41 · BSB

This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you g…

Ezekiel 23:22–24 · BSB

Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will incite your lovers against you, those from whom you turned away in disgust. And I will bring them against you from every side—

Jeremiah 22:20–22 · BSB

Go up to Lebanon and cry out; raise your voice in Bashan; cry out from Abarim, for all your lovers have been crushed.

Lamentations 4:17 · BSB

All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

29Every city flees at the sound of the horseman and archer. They enter the thickets and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.

31For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”

Read Jeremiah 4