Jeremiah 9
EasyEnglish Bible
9 ‘My head should be like a pool of water.
My eyes should be like a river of tears.
Then I would never stop crying
for my dear people who have died in war.
2 I would like to live in a hut in the desert.
Then I could leave my people.
I could forget about them.
They have all turned away from God.
They have not been faithful to him.
They are a crowd of people that nobody can trust.’
The Lord answers Jeremiah
3 The Lord says,
‘The tongues of these people speak lies,
like the bows of soldiers shoot arrows.
They have become powerful in the land,
but they have used lies to do that.
They do more and more evil things,
and they do not respect me.
4 Be careful of your friends.
Do not even trust your brothers!
They will always try to cheat you.
All your friends will speak lies about you.
5 They deceive each other,
and they never tell the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies.
They love to do bad things
and they cannot stop themselves.
6 They hurt and they deceive each other.
They do that more and more.
They refuse to respect me.’
That is what the Lord says.
7 So the Lord Almighty says this:
‘Listen! I will test my people,
like a man uses fire to make metal become pure.
I must punish them like this because they are so wicked.
There is nothing else that I can do!
8 Their tongues are like arrows that have poison.
They hurt people with their lies.
They speak kind words to their neighbours,
but they are looking for a way to cheat them.
9 I must certainly punish them for what they have done.
I will pay back this wicked nation for their sins.’
That is what the Lord says.
Jeremiah is sad
10 ‘I will weep for the mountains.
I will cry for the fields in the wilderness.
There is no grass for the animals to eat.
Nobody travels through those places.
There is no sound of cows and sheep.
The birds and the wild animals have all disappeared.’
11 The Lord replied,
‘I will make Jerusalem a heap of stones.
Only wild animals will live there.
I will destroy the towns of Judah
so that nobody can live in them.’
12 I said,
‘Nobody is wise enough to understand this. The Lord has not told anyone, so that he can explain it to others. Why has our land become like a desert so that nobody travels through it? Does anyone know the answer?’
13 The Lord answered, ‘It is because my people have not accepted the laws that I gave to them. They have not obeyed me. They have not lived in the way that I told them to live. 14 Instead, they have done whatever they wanted to do. They have served the gods of Baal, as their ancestors taught them to do.’ 15 So the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: ‘I will punish my people with trouble and pain. I will give them food that is bitter. They will drink water that is poison. 16 I will send them away as prisoners. They will live among foreign nations that they had never heard about. Their ancestors had not heard about them either. I will send enemies to chase after them until I have destroyed them.’
17 The Lord Almighty said this:
‘Think about what is happening!
Call the women who weep at funerals.
Bring those women who know what to do.’
18 ‘Yes, tell them to come quickly
to sing funeral songs for us.[a]
Then tears will pour from our eyes,
and we will not stop weeping.
19 Listen to the people who are crying in Jerusalem!
They say,
“A terrible thing has happened to us!
We are very ashamed!
Our enemies have destroyed our houses.
Now we have to leave our land.” ’
20 ‘Now hear the Lord's message, you women.
Listen to what he says to you.
Teach your daughters how to weep.
Teach each other this funeral song:
21 “Death has come to visit us!
It has come into our strong houses.
Death has taken away our children
who play in the streets.
It has taken away our young men
who meet together in the streets.”
22 The Lord says this:
Dead bodies of people will lie everywhere on the ground.
They will lie there like dung
that a farmer puts on his fields.
They will lie there like crops at harvest time
that nobody has picked up.’
23 The Lord says,
‘Wise people should not be proud of their wisdom.
Powerful people should not be proud of their power.
And rich people should not be proud that they are rich.
24 If they want to be proud about something,
they should be proud that they know me.
They should boast that they understand who I am.
I am the Lord.
I am faithful in my love for my people.
I always do what is right and fair.
It makes me happy when people live in that way too.’
25 The Lord says, ‘Be careful! Very soon I will punish all people who do not respect me. Those people may be circumcised, but if they do not respect me, I will punish them. 26 Those people include the Egyptians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites and the people of Judah. I will also punish the people who live in the desert and who cut their hair short. Those people are not circumcised to give honour to me. The Israelites are the same. Their bodies are circumcised, but they do not want to obey my covenant with them.’
Footnotes
- 9:18 This may be what Jeremiah says. Or it may be what the people say.
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
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