The Tanach, with the evidence built in
This is the complete Hebrew Bible in the Jewish Publication Society translation. Wherever a real archaeological find bears on the text, those words are underlined in gold✦. Hover over them or tap them to see the artifact and what it confirms. From there, Next find takes you to the next underline, so you can tour a whole book’s evidence, and the share button turns the verse into an image.
Each chapter lists its finds under its title, and the chapter picker shows how many finds every book and chapter has. The AA button sets the text size, light or dark, and English, Hebrew, or the two together.
Chapter 4
1If you return, O Israel—declares the LORD—If you return to Me,If you remove your abominations from My presenceAnd do not waver,
2And swear, “As the LORD lives,”In sincerity, justice, and righteousness—Nations shall bless themselves by youAnd praise themselves by you.
3For thus said the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:Break up the untilled ground,And do not sow among thorns.
4Open your hearts to the LORD,Remove the thickening about your hearts—O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem—Lest My wrath break forth like fire,And burn, with none to quench it,Because of your wicked acts.
5Proclaim in Judah,Announce in Jerusalem,And say:“Blow the horn in the land!”Shout aloud and say:“Assemble, and let us goInto the fortified cities!”
6Set up a signpost: To Zion.Take refuge, do not delay!For I bring evil from the north,And great disaster.
7The lion has come up from his thicket:The destroyer of nations has set out,Has departed from his place,To make your land a desolation;Your cities shall be ruined,Without inhabitants.
8For this, put on sackcloth,Mourn and wail;For the blazing anger of the LORDHas not turned away from us.
9And in that day—declares the LORD—The mind of the kingAnd the mind of the nobles shall fail,The priests shall be appalled,And the prophets shall stand aghast.
10And I said: Ah, Lord GOD! Surely You have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying:It shall be well with you—Yet the sword threatens the very life!
11At that time, it shall be said concerning this people and Jerusalem:The conduct of My poor people is like searing windFrom the bare heights of the desert—It will not serve to winnow or to fan.
12A full blast from them comes against Me:Now I in turn will bring charges against them.
13Lo, he ascends like clouds,His chariots are like a whirlwind,His horses are swifter than eagles.Woe to us, we are ruined!
14Wash your heart clean of wickedness,O Jerusalem, that you may be rescued.How long will you harbor within youYour evil designs?
15Hark, one proclaims from DanAnd announces calamity from Mount Ephraim!
16Tell the nations: Here they are!Announce concerning Jerusalem:Watchers are coming from a distant land,They raise their voices against the towns of Judah.
17Like guards of fields, they surround her on every side.For she has rebelled against Me—declares the LORD.
18Your conduct and your actsHave brought this upon you;This is your bitter punishment;It pierces your very heart.
19Oh, my suffering, my suffering!How I writhe!Oh, the walls of my heart!My heart moans within me,I cannot be silent;For I hear the blare of horns,Alarms of war.
20Disaster overtakes disaster,For all the land has been ravaged.Suddenly my tents have been ravaged,In a moment, my tent cloths.
21How long must I see standardsAnd hear the blare of horns?
22For My people are stupid,They give Me no heed;They are foolish children,They are not intelligent.They are clever at doing wrong,But unable to do right.
23I look at the earth,It is unformed and void;At the skies,And their light is gone.
24I look at the mountains,They are quaking;And all the hills are rocking.
25I look: no man is left,And all the birds of the sky have fled.
26I look: the farm land is desert,And all its towns are in ruin—Because of the LORD,Because of His blazing anger.
27For thus said the LORD:The whole land shall be desolate,But I will not make an end of it.
28For this the earth mourns,And skies are dark above—Because I have spoken, I have planned,And I will not relent or turn back from it.
29At the shout of horseman and bowmanThe whole city flees.They enter the thickets,They clamber up the rocks.The whole city is deserted,Not a man remains there.
30And you, who are doomed to ruin,What do you accomplish by wearing crimson,By decking yourself in jewels of gold,By enlarging your eyes with kohl?You beautify yourself in vain:Lovers despise you,They seek your life!
31I hear a voice as of one in travail,Anguish as of a woman bearing her first child,The voice of Fair ZionPanting, stretching out her hands:“Alas for me! I faintBefore the killers!”
Translation: Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society, 1985), via Sefaria, used under CC BY-NC.
Paragraph divisions follow the Masoretic text (Miqra according to the Masorah, CC BY-SA).