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Jeremiah 9
New Catholic Bible
Jeremiah 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
A Faithless People
1 Oh, if only my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Would that I could find in the desert
a wayside shelter for travelers
so that I might depart from my people
and leave them far behind.
For all of them are adulterers,
a faithless mob of traitors.
3 Their tongues are like devious weapons,
bent like a drawn bow.
With falsehood rather than truth
they have gained power in the land.
They commit one crime after another,
but they do not acknowledge me, says the Lord.
4 Each of you should be on guard against your neighbor
and place no trust in a brother.
For everyone seeks to supplant his brother, as Jacob did,
and every friend is a slanderer.
5 They all deceive each other;
no one speaks the truth.
They have trained their tongues in the art of lying;
immersed in iniquity, they cannot repent.
6 With their repeated acts of oppression and deceit,
they refuse to acknowledge me, says the Lord.
7 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:
Now I will refine and test them.
How else should I deal with this people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
their mouth utters words of deceit.
They speak cordially with their neighbors,
but inwardly, they are plotting to ambush them.
9 For such deceitful dealings
shall I not punish them, says the Lord,
and shall I not exact vengeance
on such a nation?
Dirge over Zion
10 Raise up cries of weeping and lamentation for the mountains
and chant a dirge for the pasture lands,
because they have been so scorched
that no one passes there,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
Birds of the air and the animals:
all have fled and are gone.
11 I will turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,
a lair for jackals,
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so that no one can live there.
12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been commanded by the Lord to make it known? Why has the land been ravaged and laid waste like a desert through which no one is able to pass? 13 The Lord says, “This was permitted to happen because they have rejected my law which I set before them, and they have not followed it or listened to my voice. 14 Rather, they have stubbornly obeyed the wishes of their own hearts and followed the Baals, as their ancestors had taught them.”
15 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Now I will give this people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have completely annihilated them.”
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Listen to my command! Summon the mourning women;
send for those who are most skilled in this regard.
18 Let them come quickly
and raise a dirge for us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears
and our cheeks may be wet with weeping.
19 May a sound of lamenting be heard in Zion,
“Great is our ruin;
intense is our shame.
We must leave our land;
our homes have been destroyed.”[a]
20 Listen, you women, to the word of the Lord;
let your ears receive the message he imparts.
21 Death has climbed through our windows
and has entered our palaces.
It has cut down the children in the streets
and the young people in the public squares.
22 The corpses of the slain will be strewn
like dung on an open field,
like sheaves left behind by the reaper
with no one to gather them.
True Wisdom
23 Thus says the Lord:
Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom,
or the strong man boast of his strength,
or the rich man boast of his wealth.
24 But if any wish to boast,
let them boast of this:
that they understand and know me.
For I am the Lord who governs the earth
with unfailing love, justice, and righteousness.
In these things I delight,
says the Lord.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will demand an account of all those who are circumcised only in the flesh: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaved temples who dwell in the desert.[b] For all those nations, and the entire house of Israel as well, are uncircumcised in heart.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:19 Probably an allusion to a campaign of Nebuchadnezzar in Palestine in 602 or 598 B.C. (see 2 Ki 24:1-10).
- Jeremiah 9:26 Desert: or “desert and who clip the hair by their foreheads,” which would refer to an idolatrous practice.
Jeremiah 9
New International Version
Jeremiah 9
New International Version
9 [a]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!(A)
I would weep(B) day and night
for the slain of my people.(C)
2 Oh, that I had in the desert(D)
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(E)
a crowd of unfaithful(F) people.
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;(G)
it is not by truth
that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge(H) me,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your friends;(I)
do not trust anyone in your clan.(J)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[c](K)
and every friend a slanderer.(L)
5 Friend deceives friend,(M)
and no one speaks the truth.(N)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(O)
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;(P)
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine(Q) and test(R) them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8 Their tongue(S) is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,(T)
but in their hearts they set traps(U) for them.(V)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(W) myself
on such a nation as this?”
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.(X)
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds(Y) have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap(Z) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;(AA)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah(AB)
so no one can live there.”(AC)
12 Who is wise(AD) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.(AE) 14 Instead, they have followed(AF) the stubbornness of their hearts;(AG) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food(AH) and drink poisoned water.(AI) 16 I will scatter them among nations(AJ) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(AK) and I will pursue them with the sword(AL) until I have made an end of them.”(AM)
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(AN) to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.(AO)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined(AP) we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.(AQ)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.(AR)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(AS)
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men(AT) from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung(AU) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom(AV)
or the strong boast of their strength(AW)
or the rich boast of their riches,(AX)
24 but let the one who boasts boast(AY) about this:
that they have the understanding to know(AZ) me,
that I am the Lord,(BA) who exercises kindness,(BB)
justice and righteousness(BC) on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh(BD)— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[e](BE) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,(BF) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.(BG)”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
- 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)
- Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads
Иеремия 9
Священное Писание (Восточный Перевод)
Иеремия 9
Священное Писание (Восточный Перевод)
9 О, если бы голова моя была колодцем, полным воды,
и глаза мои – фонтаном слёз,
чтобы оплакивать мне днём и ночью
сражённых из моего народа!
2 О, если бы был для меня в пустыне
постоялый двор,
чтобы я мог оставить свой народ
и удалиться прочь!
Все они – блудники,
сборище вероломных.
3 – Как лук, напрягают язык для лжи;
не истиной побеждают в стране.
Идут от одного злодейства к другому
и не знают Меня, –
возвещает Вечный. –
4 Остерегайтесь друзей,
не доверяйте братьям,
потому что всякий брат – обманщик,
и всякий друг – клеветник.
5 Друг лжёт другу,
никто не говорит правды в лицо.
Они приучили свой язык лгать
и грешат до изнеможения.
6 Ты живёшь среди коварного народа,
и из-за своего коварства они не желают знать Меня, –
возвещает Вечный.
7 Поэтому так говорит Вечный, Повелитель Сил:
– Я переплавлю и испытаю их,
а как ещё Мне поступить
с Моим грешным народом?
8 Их язык – гибельная стрела,
он источает коварство.
С ближним они говорят по-дружески,
а в сердце готовят западню.
9 Неужели Я не накажу их за это? –
возвещает Вечный. –
Неужели Я не воздам по заслугам
такому народу, как этот?
10 Буду рыдать и оплакивать горы,
подниму плач о брошенных пастбищах.
Разорены они, никто не ходит по ним,
и не слышно мычания стад.
Птицы небесные разлетелись,
и разбежались все звери.
11 – Я сделаю Иерусалим грудой развалин,
логовом шакалов;
города Иудеи сделаю пустыней,
оставлю без жителей.
12 Кому хватит мудрости, чтобы понять это? Кто был научен Вечным и может объяснить это? За что погибла страна и выжжена, как непроходимая пустыня?
13 И Вечный сказал:
– Это за то, что они оставили Мой Закон, который Я установил для них; они не слушались Меня и не исполняли Моего Закона. 14 Напротив, они упорно следовали желаниям своего сердца; они поклонялись статуям Баала, как их научили отцы.
15 Поэтому, так говорит Вечный, Повелитель Сил, Бог Исраила:
– Я накормлю этот народ горькой пищей и напою отравленной водой. 16 Я рассею их среди народов, которых не знали ни они, ни их отцы, и буду преследовать их мечом, пока не погублю их.
17 Так говорит Вечный, Повелитель Сил:
– Подумайте! Позовите плакальщиц,
пошлите за искуснейшими из них.
18 – Пусть придут поскорее
и плач о нас поднимут,
чтобы хлынули слёзы у нас из глаз
и побежали с ресниц потоки.
19 Плач слышен из Иерусалима[a]:
«Как мы ограблены!
Как жестоко опозорены!
Мы покидаем свою страну;
наши дома разрушены».
20 Слушайте же слово Вечного, женщины,
внимайте моим словам.
Научите плачу своих дочерей
и друг друга – горестным песням.
21 Потому что смерть входит в наши окна
и вторгается в наши дворцы,
чтобы истребить детей на улицах
и юношей на площадях.
22 – Скажи: Так возвещает Вечный:
«Будут трупы людские лежать,
как навоз на открытом поле,
как снопы позади жнеца,
и некому будет собрать их».
23 Так говорит Вечный:
– Пусть мудрец не хвалится мудростью,
сильный – силою,
а богатый – своим богатством;
24 тот, кто хвалится, пусть хвалится тем,
что понимает и знает Меня,
тем, что Я – Вечный, творящий милость,
правосудие и праведность на земле,
потому что только это Мне угодно, –
возвещает Вечный.
25 – Настанут дни, – возвещает Вечный, – когда Я накажу всех, кто обрезан только по плоти – 26 жителей Египта, Иудеи, Эдома, Аммона и Моава и всех, живущих в отдалённых местах пустыни и стригущих волосы на висках[b]. Все эти народы и весь народ Исраила – необрезаны сердцем[c].
Jeremiah 9
New King James Version
Jeremiah 9
New King James Version
Disobedience Brings God’s Judgment
9 Oh, (A)that my head were waters,
And my 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 for travelers;
That I might leave my people,
And go from them!
For (B)they are all adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.
3 “And like their bow (C)they have bent their tongues for lies.
They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from (D)evil to evil,
And they (E)do not know Me,” says the Lord.
4 “Everyone(F) take heed to his [a]neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
For every brother will utterly supplant,
And every neighbor will (G)walk with slanderers.
5 Everyone will (H)deceive his neighbor,
And will not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6 Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, (I)I will refine them and [b]try them;
(J)For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people?
8 Their tongue is an arrow shot out;
It speaks (K)deceit;
One speaks (L)peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,
But [c]in his heart he [d]lies in wait.
9 (M)Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains,
And (N)for the [e]dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation,
Because they are burned up,
So that no one can pass through;
Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle.
(O)Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled;
They are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem (P)a heap of ruins, (Q)a den of jackals.
I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
12 (R)Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through?
13 And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have (S)not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14 but they have (T)walked according to the [f]dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, (U)which their fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will (V)feed them, this people, (W)with wormwood, and give them [g]water of gall to drink. 16 I will (X)scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. (Y)And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
The People Mourn in Judgment
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Consider and call for (Z)the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
18 Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That (AA)our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are plundered!
We are greatly ashamed,
Because we have forsaken the land,
Because we have been cast out of (AB)our dwellings.’ ”
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
21 For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off (AC)the children—[h]no longer to be outside!
And the young men—[i]no longer on the streets!
22 Speak, “Thus says the Lord:
‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall (AD)as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.’ ”
23 Thus says the Lord:
(AE)“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his (AF)might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But (AG)let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, [j]judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
(AH)For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that (AI)I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the (AJ)farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are (AK)uncircumcised in the heart.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:4 friend
- Jeremiah 9:7 test
- Jeremiah 9:8 Inwardly he
- Jeremiah 9:8 sets his ambush
- Jeremiah 9:10 Or pastures
- Jeremiah 9:14 stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 9:15 Bitter or poisonous water
- Jeremiah 9:21 Lit. from outside
- Jeremiah 9:21 Lit. from the square
- Jeremiah 9:24 justice
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
Священное Писание (Восточный Перевод) (CARS)
Central Asian Russian Scriptures (CARS)
Священное Писание, Восточный Перевод
Copyright © 2003, 2009, 2013 by IMB-ERTP and Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.