Jeremiah 9:1-11

Good News Translation

9 I wish my head were a well of water,
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I could cry day and night
    for my people who have been killed.
²I wish I had a place to stay in the desert
    where I could get away from my people.
They are all unfaithful,
    a mob of traitors.
³They are always ready to tell lies;
    dishonesty instead of truth rules the land.

The Lord says,

“My people do one evil thing after another
and do not acknowledge me as their God.”

⁴Everyone must be on guard against their friends,
    and no one can trust their relatives;
for all relatives are as deceitful as Jacob,
    and everyone slanders their friends.
^5-6They all mislead their friends,
    and no one tells the truth;
they have taught their tongues to lie
    and will not give up their sinning.
They do one violent thing after another,
    and one deceitful act follows another.

The Lord says that his people reject him.
⁷Because of this the Lord Almighty says,
“I will refine my people like metal
    and put them to the test.
My people have done evil—
    what else can I do with them?
⁸Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
    they always tell lies.
Everyone speaks friendly words to their neighbors,
    but they are really setting a trap for them.
⁹Will I not punish them for these things?
    Will I not take revenge on a nation like this?
I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹⁰I said, “I will mourn for the mountains
    and weep for the pastures,
because they have dried up,
    and no one travels through them.
The sound of livestock is no longer heard;
    birds and wild animals have fled and gone.”

¹¹The Lord says, “I will make Jerusalem a pile of ruins,
a place where jackals live;
the cities of Judah will become a desert,
a place where no one lives.”

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