Jeremiah 4:30

The Message

And you, what do you think you’re up to? Dressing up in party clothes, Decking yourselves out in jewelry, putting on lipstick and rouge and mascara! Your primping goes for nothing. You’re not going to seduce anyone. They’re out to kill you! And what’s that I hear? The cry of a woman in labor, the screams of a mother giving birth to her firstborn. It’s the cry of Daughter Zion, gasping for breath, reaching out for help: “Help, oh help me! I’m dying! The killers are on me!”

Cross References

2 Kings 9:30

When Jezebel heard that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel, she made herself up—put on eyeshadow and arranged her hair—and posed seductively at the window. When Jehu came through the city gate, she called down, “So, how are things, ‘Zimri,’ you dashing king-killer?”

Lamentations 1:19

“I called to my friends; they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders only looked after themselves, trying but failing to save their own skins.

Lamentations 1:2

She cries herself to sleep each night, tears soaking her pillow. No one’s left among her lovers to sit and hold her hand. Her friends have all dumped her.

Lamentations 4:17

We watched and watched, wore our eyes out looking for help. And nothing. We mounted our lookouts and looked for the help that never showed up.