en_tn_lite_do_not_use/jer/04/08.md

909 B

gird yourselves with sackcloth

People would wear sackcloth to show that they were very sad. In this context it would be to show that they were very sorry for the bad things they had done. The command "gird yourselves," which usually means "prepare for work" or "prepare for battle" is ironic: they are to prepare to mourn, not to work or fight. Alternate translation: "put on the clothes that show you are mourning" or "prepare to mourn" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/translate-symaction and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-irony)

wail

cry loudly

For the force of Yahweh's anger has not turned away from us

Anger is spoken of as if it were a living thing that could turn away from people. Here "Yahweh's anger has not turned away from us" means that Yahweh is still very angry with the people. Alternate translation: "For Yahweh is still very angry with us" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)