Jeremiah 9
Legacy Standard Bible
9 [a](A)Oh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the (B)daughter of my people!
2 [b](C)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place,
That I might leave my people
And go from them!
For all of them are (D)adulterers,
A solemn assembly of (E)treacherous men.
3 “They (F)bend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and unfaithfulness prevail in the land,
For they (G)go onward from evil to evil,
And they (H)do not know Me,” declares Yahweh.
4 “Let everyone (I)beware of his neighbor,
And (J)do not trust any brother,
Because every (K)brother [c]surely supplants,
And every neighbor (L)goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone (M)deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They (N)weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Your (O)habitation is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they (P)refuse to know Me,” declares Yahweh.
7 Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Behold, I will refine them and (Q)test them;
For (R)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8 Their (S)tongue is a slaughtering arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one (T)speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he (U)sets an ambush for him.
9 (V)Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares Yahweh.
“On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?
10 “For the (W)mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,
And for the pastures of the (X)wilderness a funeral lamentation,
Because they are (Y)turned into ruin so that no one passes through,
And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;
Both the (Z)birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a (AA)heap of ruins,
A haunt of (AB)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a (AC)desolation, without inhabitant.”
12 Who is the (AD)wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom (AE)the mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? (AF)Why has the land perished, turned into ruin like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 Yahweh said, “Because they have (AG)forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have (AH)walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the (AI)Baals, as their (AJ)fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, (AK)I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them [d](AL)poisoned water to drink. 16 I will (AM)scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the (AN)sword after them until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Carefully consider and call for the (AO)mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the [e](AP)skillful women, that they may come!
18 Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,
That our (AQ)eyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a voice of (AR)wailing is heard from Zion,
‘(AS)How we are destroyed!
We are put to great shame,
For we have (AT)left the land
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Indeed, hear the word of Yahweh, O you (AU)women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a funeral lamentation.
21 For (AV)death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To cut off the (AW)infants from the streets,
The choice men from the open squares.
22 Speak, “Thus declares Yahweh,
‘The corpses of men will fall (AX)like dung on the open field
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”
23 Thus says Yahweh, “(AY)Let not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the (AZ)mighty man boast in his might; let not a (BA)rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts (BB)boast in this, that he [f]understands and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who (BC)shows lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I (BD)delight in these things,” declares Yahweh.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet (BE)uncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and (BF)all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are (BG)uncircumcised of heart.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Heb
- Jeremiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Heb
- Jeremiah 9:4 Heb sounds like Jacob (a play on words)
- Jeremiah 9:15 Or gall
- Jeremiah 9:17 Lit wise
- Jeremiah 9:24 Lit has insight
Jeremiah 9
Evangelical Heritage Version
9 I wish my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears.
Then I would weep day and night
for the fallen of my people.[a]
2 I wish there was a lodging place for travelers
in the wilderness.
Then I would leave my people
and get away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a society of traitors.
The Lord Gives a Warning
3 They bend their tongues like bows, to deceive.
It is not by faithfulness that they prevail in the land.
They go from evil to evil,
and they do not acknowledge me,
declares the Lord.
4 Everyone should be on guard against his friend.
Do not trust any brother,
for every brother is really a deceiver,
and every friend spreads slander.
5 Everyone betrays his friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie.
They wear themselves out with sinning.
6 You, Jeremiah, live in the midst of deception!
In their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord of Armies says.
Watch me. I will refine them and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
With their mouths they speak peacefully to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord.
Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
Jeremiah’s Grief
10 I will cry and sob for the mountains.
I will sing a lament for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and not even the lowing of cattle is heard.
From the birds in the sky to all the animals below, everything has fled.
They are all gone.
The Lord’s Threat
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a jackals’ den,
and I am going to lay waste to the cities of Judah,
so that no one can live there.
Jeremiah’s Question
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord so that he can explain it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through it?
The Lord’s Answer
13 The Lord said:
This happened because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them. They did not listen to my voice or live according to it. 14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts, and they have followed the Baals as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Watch me. I am going to make this people eat wormwood and drink bitter water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that they and their fathers have not known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them. 17 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Consider this, and call for the wailing women.
Send for those who are the most skilled.
The People Mourn[b]
18 They should hurry and sob over us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will stream with water.
19 The sound of sobbing is heard from Zion.
“We are ruined!
We are so ashamed!
We must leave our land
because they have torn down our dwellings.”
20 Listen to the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to the word from his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to sob.
Each of you should teach her neighbor a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through a window
and entered our citadels.
It has taken away the children from the streets
and the young men from the city squares.
22 This is what the Lord says.
Dead bodies will fall
like manure on the ground,
like freshly cut grain after the reaper,
with no one to gather it.
23 This is what the Lord says.
The wise man should not boast in his wisdom.
The strong man should not boast in his strength,
nor the rich man in his riches.
24 Instead, let those who boast boast about this:
that they have understanding, and that they know me.
They know that I am the Lord,
who shows mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth,
for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.
25 Watch! The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who cut their hair short[c] and who live in the wilderness.[d] Actually, these are all uncircumcised nations. And the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 English 9:1 is Hebrew 8:23. The other English verse numbers in chapter 9 are one number higher than the Hebrew verse numbers.
- Jeremiah 9:18 In these chapters the warnings of the Lord and the responses of the people are interwoven in such a way that it is sometimes difficult to separate them.
- Jeremiah 9:26 Cutting the hair short was often done in honor of a pagan god and was forbidden in Leviticus 19:27.
- Jeremiah 9:26 Or and all who live in the distant corners of the desert
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The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.