Jeremiah 9:3
New English Translation
The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them
3 The Lord says,[a]
“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows.
Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies.[b]
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have not done so by honest means.[c]
Indeed, they do one evil thing after another[d]
and do not pay attention to me.[e]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:3 tn The words “The Lord says” have been moved up from the end of the verse to make clear that a change in speaker has occurred.
- Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “They have readied [or strung] their tongue as their bow for lies.”
- Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “but not through honesty.”
- Jeremiah 9:3 tn Heb “they go from evil to evil.”
- Jeremiah 9:3 tn Or “do not acknowledge me”; Heb “do not know me.” But “knowing” in Hebrew thought often involves more than intellectual knowledge; it involves emotional and volitional commitment as well. For יָדַע (yadaʿ) meaning “acknowledge” see 1 Chr 28:9; Isa 29:21; Hos 2:20; Prov 3:6. This word is also found in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts where it has the idea of a vassal king acknowledging the sovereignty of a greater king (cf. H. Huffmon, “The Treaty Background of Hebrew yada,” BASOR 181 [1966]: 31-37).
Jeremiah 9:3-6
The Message
3-6 “Their tongues shoot out lies
like a bow shoots arrows—
A mighty army of liars,
the sworn enemies of truth.
They advance from one evil to the next,
ignorant of me.”
God’s Decree.
“Be wary of even longtime neighbors.
Don’t even trust your grandmother!
Brother schemes against brother,
like old cheating Jacob.
Friend against friend
spreads malicious gossip.
Neighbors gyp neighbors,
never telling the truth.
They’ve trained their tongues to tell lies,
and now they can’t tell the truth.
They pile wrong upon wrong, stack lie upon lie,
and refuse to know me.”
God’s Decree.
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