Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish my head were like a spring of water
and my eyes like a fountain of tears!
Then I could cry day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2I wish 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 are all turning against him.
Judah’s Failures
3“They use their tongues like a bow,
shooting lies from their mouths like arrows.
Lies, not truth,
have grown strong in the land.
They go from one evil thing to another.
They do not know who I am,” says the Lord.
4“Watch out for your friends,
and don’t trust your own relatives,
because every relative is a cheater,
and every friend tells lies about you.
5Everyone lies to his friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
The people of Judah have taught their tongues to lie.
They have become tired from sinning.
6Jeremiah, you live in the middle of lies.
With their lies the people refuse to know me,” says the Lord.
7So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire.
I have no other choice,
because my people have sinned.
8Their tongues are like sharp arrows.
Their mouths speak lies.
Everyone speaks nicely to his neighbor,
but he is secretly planning to attack him.
9Shouldn’t I punish the people for doing this?” says the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I give a nation like this the punishment it deserves?”
10I, Jeremiah, will cry loudly for the mountains
and sing a funeral song for the empty fields.
They are empty, and no one passes through.
The mooing of cattle cannot be heard.
The birds have flown away,
and the animals are gone.
11“I, the Lord, will make the city of Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a home for wild dogs.
I will destroy the cities of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12What person is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been taught by the Lord who can explain them? Why was the land ruined? Why has it been made like an empty desert where no one goes?
13The Lord answered, “It is because Judah quit following my teachings that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them to do. 14Instead, they were stubborn and followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them to do. 15So this is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them through other nations that they and their ancestors never knew about. I will chase the people of Judah with the sword until they are all killed.”
17This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
“Now, think about these things!
Call for the women who cry at funerals to come.
Send for those women who are good at that job.
18Let them come quickly
and cry loudly for us.
Then our eyes will fill with tears,
and streams of water will flow from our eyelids.
19The sound of loud crying is heard from Jerusalem:
‘We are truly ruined!
We are truly ashamed!
We must leave our land,
because our houses are in ruins.’ ”
20Now, women of Judah, listen to the word of the Lord ;
open your ears to hear the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to cry loudly.
Teach one another a funeral song.
21Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our strong cities.
Death has taken away our children who play in the streets
and the young men who meet in the city squares.
22Say, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The dead bodies of people will lie
in the open field like dung.
They will lie like grain a farmer has cut,
but there will be no one to gather them.’ ”
23This is what the Lord says:
“The wise must not brag about their wisdom.
The strong must not brag about their strength.
The rich must not brag about their money.
24But if people want to brag, let them brag
that they understand and know me.
Let them brag that I am the Lord,
and that I am kind and fair,
and that I do things that are right on earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me,” says the Lord.
25The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh: 26the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and the desert people who cut their hair short. The men in all those countries are not circumcised. And the whole family of Israel does not give itself to serving me.”
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 9
9
1If only I had a travelers’ lodging place in the wilderness, then I might leave my people and get away from them! For they are all adulterers, a bunch of traitors.
2They bend their tongue like a bow. Lies, not faithfulness, prevail in the land. “For they go from evil to evil and do not know Me,” says Adonai.
3Beware, everyone, of your neighbor! Don’t even trust a brother. For every brother grabs like Jacob and every neighbor spreads slander.
4Everyone deceives his neighbor and does not speak the truth. They taught their tongue to speak lies. They wear themselves out doing wrong.
5“You dwell in the midst of deceit. In deceit they refuse to know Me.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
6Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “I am about to refine them and test them. For what else can I do for the daughter of My people?
7Their tongue is a deadly arrow, speaking deceit. With his mouth each says shalom to his neighbor, while inwardly setting a trap for him.
8For such things shall I not punish them?” It is a declaration of Adonai. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
9For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing, a lament for the desert pastures. For they are so scorched that no one passes through— the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds of the air have fled and the animals are gone.
10“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair for jackals. I will make the cities of Judah a wasteland without inhabitant.
11Who is the one wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken that he may explain it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”
12Adonai said “It is because they have forsaken My Torah that I set before them. They have neither obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,
13but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baalim that their fathers taught them.
14Therefore, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, “look, I will make this people eat wormwood and drink poisoned water.
15I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will pursue them with the sword, until I have finished with them.”
16Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Pay attention! Call the dirge-singers and let them come. Send for the most skillful wailers and let them come!”
17“Let them come quickly and lift up a wailing over us so our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush with water.”
18For a wailing voice is heard from Zion: “How we are ruined! We are utterly ashamed— we have forsaken the land, for they tore down our dwellings.”
19Now, hear the word of Adonai, O women, let your ear receive the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters wailing and everyone her neighbor a dirge.
20For death has climbed through our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off children from the street and young men from the squares.”
21“Say this,” declares Adonai. “The carcasses of men will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one gathering them.”
Boast in Knowing Adonai
22Thus says Adonai: “Let not the wise boast in his wisdom nor the mighty boast in his might nor the rich glory in his riches.
23But let one who boasts boast in this: that he understands and knows Me. For I am Adonai who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth. For in these things I delight.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
24“Days are soon coming,” declares Adonai, “when I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised—
25Egypt, Judah, Edom and Ammon’s children and Moab, and all that have cut the corners of their hair—that dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
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