Jeremiah 9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
9 [a]If my head were a spring of water,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night(A)
over the slain of my dear[b] people.
2 [c]If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(B)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(C)
3 They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take Me into account.(D)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Imminent Ruin and Exile
4 Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,
and every friend spread slander.(E)
5 Each one betrays his friend;
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 You live in a world of deception.[d]
In their deception they refuse to know Me.(F)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
7 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
I am about to refine them and test them,(G)
for what else can I do
because of My dear[e] people?[f]
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows—
they speak deception.(H)
With his mouth
a man speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
9 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(I)
on such a nation as this?
10 I will raise weeping and a lament
over the mountains,
a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,
for they have been so scorched
that no one passes through.
The sound of cattle is no longer heard.
From the birds of the sky to the animals,(J)
everything has fled—they have gone away.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble,(K)
a jackals’ den.(L)
I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
an uninhabited place.
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this?(M) Who has the Lord spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned My instruction(N) that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it. 14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts(O) and followed after the Baals as their fathers taught them.”(P) 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood(Q) and give them poisonous water to drink.(R) 16 I will scatter them among the nations(S) that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
Mourning over Judah
17 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Consider, and summon the women who mourn;(T)
send for the skillful women.
18 Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids soaked with weeping.
19 For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion:
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,(U)
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to[g] the word of His mouth.
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
21 for Death(V) has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.
22 Speak as follows:
This is what the Lord says:
Human corpses will fall
like manure on the surface of the field,
like newly cut grain(W) after the reaper
with no one to gather it.
Boast in the Lord
23 This is what the Lord says:
The wise man must not boast in his wisdom;
the strong man must not boast in his strength;
the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me(X)—
that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25 “The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:(Y) 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples.[h] All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”(Z)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 Jr 8:23 in Hb
- Jeremiah 9:1 Lit slain among the daughter of my
- Jeremiah 9:2 Jr 9:1 in Hb
- Jeremiah 9:6 LXX reads Oppression on oppression, deceit on deceit
- Jeremiah 9:7 Lit of the daughter of My
- Jeremiah 9:7 LXX, Tg read because of their evils
- Jeremiah 9:20 Lit Your ears must receive
- Jeremiah 9:26 Or who live in distant places
Jeremiah 9
Common English Bible
9 [a] If only my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
for the wounds of my people.
2 [b] If only I could flee for shelter in the desert,
to leave my people
and forget them—
for they are all adulterers,
a bunch of crooks.
3 They bend their tongues like bows
to spew out lies;
they are renowned in the land,
but not for truth.
They go from bad to worse.
They don’t know me!
declares the Lord.
4 Be wary of your friends!
Don’t trust your sibling![c]
Every sibling is a cheater,
and every friend traffics in slander.
5 One cheats the other;
no one tells the truth;
they train themselves to lie;
they wear themselves out by doing wrong.
6 You live in a world of deceit,
and in their deceit
they refuse to know me,[d]
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m going to refine and test them,
for what else can I do with my people?
8 Their tongue is a lethal arrow;
their words are deceitful.
They wish their neighbors well,
but in their hearts plot their ruin.
9 Shouldn’t I punish them for this?
declares the Lord;
shouldn’t I avenge such a nation?
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains,
and lament for the grazing lands in the wilderness.
They are dried up and deserted;
no sound of the flocks is heard;
no sign of birds or animals is seen;
all have vanished.
11 I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins,
a den for wild dogs.
I will make the towns of Judah a wasteland, without inhabitant.
12 Who is wise enough to understand this?
Who has been taught by the Lord
and can therefore explain it?
Why has the land been reduced to rubble
and laid waste like a desert,
with no one passing through?
13 The Lord says: It is because they have abandoned my Instruction that I gave them, and haven’t obeyed or followed it. 14 Instead, they have followed their own willful hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them. 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to feed this people bitter food and give them poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations about whom neither they nor their ancestors have ever heard. I will pursue them with the sword until all are gone.
17 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
Pay attention!
Summon the women who mourn,
let them come;
send for those best trained,
let them come.
18 Hurry!
Let them weep for us
so that our eyes fill up with tears
and water streams down.
19 The sound of sobbing
is heard from Zion:
“We’re devastated!
We’re so ashamed!
We have to leave the land
and abandon our homes!”
20 Women, hear the Lord’s word.
Listen closely to the word
from his mouth:
teach your daughters to mourn;
teach each other to grieve.
21 Death has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses
to eliminate children from the streets,
the youth from the squares.
22 Declare what the Lord says:
Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the fields,
like bundles of grain after the harvest,
with no one to pick them up.
23 The Lord proclaims:
the learned should not boast of their knowledge,
nor warriors boast of their might,
nor the rich boast of their wealth.
24 No, those who boast should boast in this:
that they understand and know me.
I am the Lord who acts with kindness,
justice, and righteousness in the world,
and I delight in these things,
declares the Lord.
25 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will deal with everyone who is physically circumcised: 26 whether they are Egyptians or Judeans, Edomites or Ammonites, Moabites or the desert dwellers who cut the hair on their foreheads. All these nations are really uncircumcised; even the people of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 8:23 in Heb
- Jeremiah 9:2 9:1 in Heb
- Jeremiah 9:4 Or brother
- Jeremiah 9:6 Heb uncertain
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