Lament over Judah

18 My joy has flown away;
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.(A)
19 Listen—the cry of my dear people
from a faraway land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,(B)
her King not within her?”
Why have they angered me
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?(C)
20 Harvest has passed, summer has ended,
but we have not been saved.
21 I am broken by the brokenness
of my dear people.(D)
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(E)
Is there no physician there?
So why has the healing of my dear people
not come about?

If my head were a flowing spring,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night(F)
over the slain of my dear[a] people.
If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,(G)
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(H)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 9:1 Lit slain among the daughter of my

The Prophet Mourns for the People

18 My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
    my heart is sick.
19 Listen! The cry of the daughter of my people
    from far and wide in the land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King not in her?”
(“Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
    with their foreign idols?”)(A)
20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
    and we are not saved.”
21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken,
    I mourn, and horror has seized me.(B)

22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
    Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
    not been restored?(C)

[a]O that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
    for the slain of the daughter of my people!(D)
[b]O that I had in the desert
    a traveler’s lodging place,
that I might leave my people
    and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
    a band of traitors.(E)

Footnotes

  1. 9.1 8.23 in Heb
  2. 9.2 9.1 in Heb

18 You who are my Comforter[a] in sorrow,
    my heart is faint(A) within me.
19 Listen to the cry of my people
    from a land far away:(B)
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
    Is her King(C) no longer there?”

“Why have they aroused(D) my anger with their images,
    with their worthless(E) foreign idols?”(F)

20 “The harvest is past,
    the summer has ended,
    and we are not saved.”

21 Since my people are crushed,(G) I am crushed;
    I mourn,(H) and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?(I)
    Is there no physician(J) there?
Why then is there no healing(K)
    for the wound of my people?

[b]Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!(L)
I would weep(M) day and night
    for the slain of my people.(N)
Oh, that I had in the desert(O)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(P)
    a crowd of unfaithful(Q) people.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
  2. Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.