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Jeremiah 9:3-9
The Voice
Jeremiah 9:3-9
The Voice
3 Eternal One: With tongues bent like bows they shoot their lies at one another.
Truth does not win out in this land; deceit always seems to triumph.
One evil leads to another because they don’t know who I am.
4 Let everyone be careful of his neighbor,
and think twice before he trusts his brothers;
For every brother is ready to cheat and deceive;
every neighbor is prepared to lie when it suits him.
5 In this land of liars, friends have no misgivings about deceiving one another;
no one even thinks to tell the truth.
They’ve trained their tongues to utter lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
6 Jeremiah, you live in a place where deception is assumed;
as their lies pile up, they refuse to acknowledge Me.
7 Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say:
Eternal One: Watch, I will refine this nation and put them to the test.
What else can I do with My people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
they speak such lies;
Each one leads his neighbor with kind words
into a trap that was already set.
9 Should I not punish them for what they do?
Should I not repay a nation that acts this way?
Jeremiah 9:3-9
New International Version
Jeremiah 9:3-9
New International Version
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;(A)
it is not by truth
that they triumph[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge(B) me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;(C)
do not trust anyone in your clan.(D)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[b](E)
and every friend a slanderer.(F)
5 Friend deceives friend,(G)
and no one speaks the truth.(H)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(I)
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[c] live in the midst of deception;(J)
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine(K) and test(L) them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue(M) is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(N)
but in their hearts they set traps(O) for them.(P)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(Q) myself
on such a nation as this?”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
- Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
- Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.