Jeremiah 4:4

4:4 Just as ritual circumcision cuts away the foreskin

as an external symbol of dedicated covenant commitment,

you must genuinely dedicate yourselves to the Lord

and get rid of everything that hinders your commitment to me, 1 

people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem.

If you do not, 2  my anger will blaze up like a flaming fire against you

that no one will be able to extinguish.

That will happen because of the evil you have done.”

Jeremiah 49:2

49:2 Because you did that,

I, the Lord, affirm that 3  a time is coming

when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,

hear the sound of the battle cry.

It will become a mound covered with ruins. 4 

Its villages will be burned to the ground. 5 

Then Israel will take back its land

from those who took their land from them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! 6 

1 tn Heb “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskin of your heart.” The translation is again an attempt to bring out the meaning of a metaphor. The mention of the “foreskin of the heart” shows that the passage is obviously metaphorical and involves heart attitude, not an external rite.

2 tn Heb “lest.”

3 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

4 tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.

5 tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.

6 tn Heb “says the Lord.” The first person is used to maintain the first person address throughout.