Jeremiah 9:13-10:25

New King James Version

¹³And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have ^(A)not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, ¹⁴but they have ^(B)walked according to the ^[a]dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, ^(C)which their fathers taught them,” ¹⁵therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will ^(D)feed them, this people, ^(E)with wormwood, and give them ^[b]water of gall to drink. ¹⁶I will ^(F)scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. ^(G)And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”

The People Mourn in Judgment

¹⁷Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Consider and call for ^(H)the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
¹⁸Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That ^(I)our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
¹⁹For 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 ^(J)our dwellings.’ ”

²⁰Yet 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.
²¹For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off ^(K)the children—^[c]no longer to be outside!
And the young men—^[d]no longer on the streets!

²²Speak, “Thus says the Lord:

‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall ^(L)as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.’ ”

²³Thus says the Lord:

^(M)“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his ^(N)might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
²⁴But ^(O)let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, ^[e]judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
^(P)For in these I delight,” says the Lord.

²⁵“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that ^(Q)I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the ^(R)farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^(S)uncircumcised in the heart.”

Idols and the True God

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

²Thus says the Lord:

^(T)“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
³For the customs of the peoples are ^[f]futile;
For ^(U)one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
⁴They decorate it with silver and gold;
They ^(V)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.
⁵They are upright, like a palm tree,
And ^(W)they cannot speak;
They must be ^(X)carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For ^(Y)they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶Inasmuch as there is none ^(Z)like You, O Lord
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
⁷^(AA)Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For ^(AB)among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸But they are altogether ^(AC)dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a ^[g]worthless doctrine.
⁹Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And ^(AD)gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all ^(AE)the work of skillful men.
¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;
He is ^(AF)the living God and the ^(AG)everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

¹¹Thus you shall say to them: ^(AH)“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth ^(AI)shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²He ^(AJ)has made the earth by His power,
He has ^(AK)established the world by His wisdom,
And ^(AL)has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
¹³^(AM)When He utters His voice,
There is a ^[h]multitude of waters in the heavens:
^(AN)“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

¹⁴^(AO)Everyone is ^(AP)dull-hearted, without knowledge;
^(AQ)Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
^(AR)For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
¹⁶^(AS)The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And ^(AT)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
^(AU)The Lord of hosts is His name.

The Coming Captivity of Judah

¹⁷^(AV)Gather up your wares from the land,
O ^[i]inhabitant of the fortress!

¹⁸For thus says the Lord:

“Behold, I will ^(AW)throw out at this time
The inhabitants of the land,
And will distress them,
^(AX)That they may find it so.”

¹⁹^(AY)Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is severe.
But I say, ^(AZ)“Truly this is an infirmity,
And ^(BA)I must bear it.”
²⁰^(BB)My tent is plundered,
And all my cords are broken;
My children have gone from me,
And they are ^(BC)no more.
There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,
Or set up my curtains.

²¹For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,
And have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they shall not prosper,
And all their flocks shall be ^(BD)scattered.
²²Behold, the noise of the report has come,
And a great commotion out of the ^(BE)north country,
To make the cities of Judah desolate, a ^(BF)den of jackals.

²³O Lord, I know the ^(BG)way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
²⁴O Lord, ^(BH)correct me, but with justice;
Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.
²⁵^(BI)Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, ^(BJ)who do not know You,
And on the families who do not call on Your name;
For they have eaten up Jacob,
^(BK)Devoured him and consumed him,
And made his dwelling place desolate.