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Jeremiah 9:12-22
New King James Version
Jeremiah 9:12-22
New King James Version
12 (A)Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through?
13 And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have (B)not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14 but they have (C)walked according to the [a]dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, (D)which their fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will (E)feed them, this people, (F)with wormwood, and give them [b]water of gall to drink. 16 I will (G)scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. (H)And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
The People Mourn in Judgment
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Consider and call for (I)the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
18 Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That (J)our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are plundered!
We are greatly ashamed,
Because we have forsaken the land,
Because we have been cast out of (K)our dwellings.’ ”
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
21 For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off (L)the children—[c]no longer to be outside!
And the young men—[d]no longer on the streets!
22 Speak, “Thus says the Lord:
‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall (M)as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.’ ”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:14 stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 9:15 Bitter or poisonous water
- Jeremiah 9:21 Lit. from outside
- Jeremiah 9:21 Lit. from the square
Jeremiah 9:12-22
New International Version
Jeremiah 9:12-22
New International Version
12 Who is wise(A) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.(B) 14 Instead, they have followed(C) the stubbornness of their hearts;(D) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food(E) and drink poisoned water.(F) 16 I will scatter them among nations(G) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(H) and I will pursue them with the sword(I) until I have made an end of them.”(J)
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(K) to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.(L)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined(M) we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.(N)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.(O)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(P)
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men(Q) from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung(R) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.