Jeremiah 9
Easy-to-Read Version
9 If my head were filled with water,
and if my eyes were a fountain of tears,
I would cry day and night for my people who have been destroyed.
2 If only I had a place in the desert—
a house where travelers spend the night—
so I could leave my people.
I could go away from them,
because they are all unfaithful to God.
They have all turned against him.
3 “They use their tongues like a bow;
lies fly from their mouths like arrows.
Lies, not truth,
have grown strong in this land.
They go from one sin to another.
They don’t know me.”
This is what the Lord said.
4 “Watch your neighbors!
Don’t trust your own brothers,
because every brother is a cheat.
Every neighbor talks behind your back.
5 Everyone lies to their neighbor.
No one speaks the truth.
The people of Judah have taught
their tongues to lie.
They sinned until they were too tired
to come back.
6 One bad thing followed another,
and lies followed lies.
The people refused to know me.”
This is what the Lord said.
7 So the Lord All-Powerful says,
“A worker heats metal in a fire to test it and see if it is pure.
I will test the people of Judah like that.
I have no other choice.
My people have sinned.
8 The people of Judah have tongues as sharp as arrows.
Their mouths speak lies.
They all speak kindly to their neighbors,
but they are secretly planning ways to attack them.
9 Should I punish the people of Judah for doing these things?”
This message is from the Lord.
“You know I should punish a nation such as this.
I should give it the punishment it deserves.”
10 I, Jeremiah, will cry for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the empty fields,
because all the animals were taken away.
No one travels there now.
The sounds of cattle cannot be heard.
The birds have flown away,
and the animals are gone.
11 The Lord says,[a] “I will make the city of Jerusalem a pile of garbage.
It will be a home for jackals.
I will destroy the cities in the land of Judah,
so no one will live there.”
12 Is there a man who is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been taught by the Lord? Can anyone explain his message? Why was the land ruined? Why was it made like an empty desert where no one goes?
13 The Lord answered, “It is because the people of Judah stopped following my teachings. I gave them my teachings, but they refused to listen to me. They did not follow my teachings. 14 The people of Judah lived their own way. They were stubborn. They followed the false god Baal. Their fathers taught them to follow those false gods.”
15 So the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says, “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter the people of Judah throughout other nations. They will live in strange nations that they and their fathers never knew about. I will send men with swords. They will kill the people of Judah. They will kill them until all the people are gone.”
17 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Now think about these things!
Call for the women who get paid to cry at funerals.
Send for the people who are good at that job.
18 The people say,
‘Let those women come quickly
and cry for us.
Then our eyes will fill with tears
that flow over our eyelids like streams of water.’
19 “The sound of loud crying is heard from Zion:
‘We are really ruined!
We are so ashamed!
We must leave our land,
because our houses have been destroyed.
Now our houses are only piles of rock.’”
20 Now, women of Judah, listen to the message from the Lord.
Listen to the words from his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to cry loudly.
Each of them must learn to sing this funeral song:
21 “Death has climbed in through our windows
and has come into our palaces.
Death has come to our children who play in the streets
and to the young men who meet in the public places.”
22 This is what you should say: “The Lord says,
‘Dead bodies will lie
in the fields like dung.
Their bodies will lie on the ground like grain a farmer has cut.
But there will be no one to gather them.’”
23 This is what the Lord says:
“The wise must not brag about their wisdom.
The strong men must not brag about their strength.
The rich must not brag about their money.
24 But if someone wants to brag, then let them brag about this:
Let them brag that they learned to know me.
Let them brag that they understand that I am the Lord,
that I am kind and fair,
and that I do good things on earth.
I love this kind of bragging.”
This message is from the Lord.
25 This is what the Lord says: “The time is coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the body. 26 I am talking about the people of the nations of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all those who live in the desert. The circumcision they do is not the kind the Lord wants. But the people of Israel are not really circumcised either. They are not circumcised in their hearts.[b]”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:11 The Lord says This is implied from the context.
- Jeremiah 9:26 circumcised in their hearts See the note at Jer. 4:4.
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
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
