Jeremiah 9
The Voice
9 Jeremiah: O that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears;
Then I could weep day and night for my poor people
who have been slaughtered.
2 O that I had a place in the desert I could run to,
a haven for travelers.
Then I could leave my people,
for they are all an adulterous and treacherous lot.
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?
10 Jeremiah: I will weep bitterly for the mountains of my homeland
and grieve for the death of her wild meadows.
For they have become a silent wasteland
where no one dares to travel.
Pastures once filled with the lowing of cattle, now are empty and lifeless.
All the animals have fled; even the birds have left the sky.
11 Eternal One: I will leave Jerusalem in ruins;
her rubble will be the haunt of jackals.
I will wreak the same havoc on the cities of Judah;
no person will be found there.
Jeremiah: 12 Who is wise enough to take all this in? Who has heard the Eternal speak and can explain His ways to others? Can anyone say why this land has been ruined and left a wasteland, a desert where no one dares to travel?
Eternal One: 13 I will answer you Myself. Because they have ignored the law I gave them generations ago. They haven’t listened to My voice, and they refuse to walk in My ways. 14 Instead, they have stubbornly followed after their own hearts. They have chosen to worship images of Baal just as their ancestors taught them. 15 This is why I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, must now take action. Look, I will now give them bitter food to eat and poisoned water to drink. 16 I Myself will scatter them among the nations—nations neither they nor their ancestors ever knew existed—and I will hunt them down with the sword and destroy them completely.
These images are too real, too vivid. Jeremiah tells of the people’s judgment. He can’t help but grieve for them and the land that was once a place of promise.
17 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has this to say:
Eternal One: Think this over, and summon the mourners.
Send for the women who will chant the dirge, that they may come.
18 Let them be quick about it: weep and wail,
that our eyes may fill with tears that streak down our faces.
19 Listen to the voice of sorrow weeping from Zion herself:
“We are ruined. All that remains for us is great shame.
Now we must leave this land that was ours;
they have torn down our houses.”
20 Jeremiah: So listen now, women of Judah, to the word of the Eternal.
Mark His words well.
It is time to teach your daughters how to mourn,
time to teach your neighbors the song of lament.
21 For death has found us all.
It has crept in through our windows and slipped past our defenses.
It has cut down our children in the streets,
and our young men in the public squares. Death has found us all.
22 Tell everyone what the Eternal has said:
“The dead bodies of men will fall like dung on the open field.
Corpses will lie on the ground like grain cut in the harvest;
but on this day, there will be no one to gather and bury the dead.”
Eternal One: 23 Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, nor the mighty in their strength, nor the rich in their wealth. 24 Whoever boasts must boast in this: that he understands and knows Me.[a] Indeed, I am the Eternal One who acts faithfully and exercises justice and righteousness on earth. These are the things that delight Me.
25 Look, the day is coming when I will set things right with all people. I will punish all those who are circumcised in their bodies but not in their hearts— 26 the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and all who live in the desert and clip the corners of their hair. All these nations are really uncircumcised, and all of Israel is uncircumcised where it counts, in the heart.
Footnotes
Jeremiah 9
King James Version
9 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.
4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
5 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
9 Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.
11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?
13 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;
14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.
17 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:
18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.
21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
22 Speak, Thus saith the Lord, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
25 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
Jeremiah 9
English Standard Version
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 (B)the daughter of my people!
2 [b] Oh that I had in the desert
a travelers' lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all (C)adulterers,
a company of (D)treacherous men.
3 (E)They bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong[c] in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
(F)and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 (G)Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every (H)brother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor (I)goes about as a slanderer.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
(J)they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, (K)I will refine them and (L)test them,
for what else can I do, (M)because of my people?
8 (N)Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
(O)it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth (P)each speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart (Q)he plans an ambush for him.
9 (R)Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
10 “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for (S)the pastures of the wilderness,
(T)because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
(U)both the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 (V)I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
(W)a lair of jackals,
(X)and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 (Y)Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined (Z)and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: (AA)“Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but (AB)have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (AC)Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them (AD)poisonous water to drink. 16 (AE)I will scatter them among the nations (AF)whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will (AG)send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
(AH)“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18 let them make haste (AI)and raise a wailing over us,
(AJ)that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
(AK)‘How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
and each to her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
(AL)cutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22 Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
(AM)‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
(AN)like sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23 Thus says the Lord: (AO)“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but (AP)let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. (AQ)For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when (AR)I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 (AS)Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and (AT)all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are (AU)uncircumcised in heart.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
- Jeremiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
- Jeremiah 9:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and not for truth they have grown strong
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
