Jer 4:29-31 | NET2full | STEP | At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers the people of every town will flee . Some of them will hide in the thickets . Others will climb up among the rocks . All the cities will be deserted . No one will remain in them .

‏ Jeremiah 4:29-31

29 At the sound of the approaching horsemen and archers
the people of every town will flee.
Some of them will hide in the thickets.
Others will climb up among the rocks.
All the cities will be deserted.
No one will remain in them.
30 And you, Zion, city doomed to destruction, ^{▼▼tn Heb “And you that are doomed to destruction.” The referent is supplied from the following context and the fact that Zion/Jerusalem represents the leadership that was continually making overtures to foreign nations for help.}
you accomplish nothing ^{▼▼tn Heb “What are you accomplishing…?” The rhetorical question assumes a negative answer, made clear by the translation in the indicative.} by wearing a beautiful dress, ^{▼▼tn Heb “clothing yourself in scarlet.”}
decking yourself out in jewels of gold,
and putting on eye shadow! ^{▼▼tn Heb “enlarging your eyes with antimony.” Antimony was a black powder used by women as eyeliner to make their eyes look larger.}
You are making yourself beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers spurn you.
They want to kill you. ^{▼▼tn Heb “they seek your life.”}
31 In fact, ^{▼▼tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.} I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby.
It is the cry of Daughter Zion ^{▼▼sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless young woman giving birth.} gasping for breath,
reaching out for help, ^{▼▼tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.} saying, “I am done in! ^{▼▼tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”}
My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”