Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish my head were a spring of water!
I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert
where a traveler could stay!
Then I could leave my people.
I could get away from them.
All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods.
They aren’t faithful to the Lord.
3“They get ready to use
their tongues like bows,”
announces the Lord.
“Their mouths shoot out lies like arrows.
They tell lies to gain power in the land.
They go from one sin to another.
They do not pay any attention to me.
4Be on guard against your friends.
Do not trust the members of your own family.
Every one of them cheats.
Every friend tells lies.
5One friend cheats another.
No one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues how to lie.
They wear themselves out sinning.
6Jeremiah, you live among people who tell lies.
When they lie, they refuse to pay any attention to me,”
announces the Lord.
7So the Lord who rules over all says,
“I will put them through the fire to test them.
What else can I do?
My people are so sinful!
8Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They tell lies.
With their mouths all of them speak kindly to their neighbors.
But in their hearts they set traps for them.
9Shouldn’t I punish them for this?”
announces the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I pay back the nation
that does these things?”
10I will cry and mourn over the mountains.
I will sing a song of sadness about the desert grasslands.
They are dry and empty. No one travels through them.
The mooing of cattle isn’t heard there.
The birds have flown away.
All the animals are gone.
11The Lord says, “I will knock down all of Jerusalem’s buildings.
I will make it a home for wild dogs.
The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed.
No one will be able to live in them.”
12Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who has been taught by the Lord? Who can explain them? Why has the land been destroyed so completely? Why has it become like a desert that no one can go across?
13The Lord answered me, “Because my people have turned away from my law. I gave it to them. But they have not kept it. They have not obeyed me. 14Instead, they have done what their stubborn hearts wanted them to do. They have worshiped the gods that are named Baal. They have done what their people have taught them to do through the years.” 15So now the Lord who rules over all speaks. He is the God of Israel. He says, “I will make these people eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them among the nations. They and their people before them didn’t know about these nations. With swords I will chase these people. I will hunt them down until I have destroyed them.”
17The Lord rules over all. He says,
“Here is something I want you to think about.
Send for the women who mourn for the dead.
Send for the most skilled among them.”
18Let them come quickly
and weep for us.
Let them cry until tears flow from our eyes.
Let them weep until water pours out of our eyes.
19People are heard weeping in Zion.
They are saying, “We are destroyed!
We are filled with shame!
We must leave our land.
Our houses have been torn down.”
20You women, hear the Lord’s message.
Listen to what he’s saying.
Teach your daughters how to mourn for the dead.
Teach one another a song of sadness.
21Death has climbed in through our windows.
It has entered our forts.
Death has removed the children from the streets.
It has taken the young men out of the market.
22Say, “The Lord announces,
“ ‘Dead bodies will be like human waste
lying in the open fields.
They will lie there like grain
that is cut down at harvest time.
No one will gather them up.’ ”
23The Lord says,
“Do not let wise people brag about how wise they are.
Do not let strong people boast about how strong they are.
Do not let rich people brag about how rich they are.
24But here is what the one who brags should boast about.
They should brag that they have the understanding to know me.
I want them to know that I am the Lord.
No matter what I do on earth, I am always kind, fair and right.
And I take delight in this,”
announces the Lord.
25“The days are coming when I will judge people,” announces the Lord. “I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their bodies. 26That includes the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. It also includes all those who live in the desert in places far away. None of the people in these nations is really circumcised. And not even the people of Israel are circumcised in their hearts.”
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Jeremiah 9: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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Jeremiah 9
9
1 # 9.1 8:23 in Heb If only my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
for the wounds of my people.
2 # 9.2 9:1 in Heb If only I could flee for shelter in the desert,
to leave my people
and forget them—
for they are all adulterers,
a bunch of crooks.
3They bend their tongues like bows
to spew out lies;
they are renowned in the land,
but not for truth.
They go from bad to worse.
They don’t know me!
declares the LORD.
4Be wary of your friends!
Don’t trust your sibling!#9.4 Or brother
Every sibling is a cheater,
and every friend traffics in slander.
5One cheats the other;
no one tells the truth;
they train themselves to lie;
they wear themselves out by doing wrong.
6You live in a world of deceit,
and in their deceit
they refuse to know me,#9.6 Heb uncertain
declares the LORD.
7Therefore, the LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m going to refine and test them,
for what else can I do with my people?
8Their tongue is a lethal arrow;
their words are deceitful.
They wish their neighbors well,
but in their hearts plot their ruin.
9Shouldn’t I punish them for this?
declares the LORD;
shouldn’t I avenge such a nation?
10I will weep and wail for the mountains,
and lament for the grazing lands in the wilderness.
They are dried up and deserted;
no sound of the flocks is heard;
no sign of birds or animals is seen;
all have vanished.
11I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins,
a den for wild dogs.
I will make the towns of Judah a wasteland, without inhabitant.
12Who is wise enough to understand this?
Who has been taught by the LORD
and can therefore explain it?
Why has the land been reduced to rubble
and laid waste like a desert,
with no one passing through?
13The LORD says: It is because they have abandoned my Instruction that I gave them, and haven’t obeyed or followed it. 14Instead, they have followed their own willful hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them. 15Therefore, this is what the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to feed this people bitter food and give them poison to drink. 16I will scatter them among nations about whom neither they nor their ancestors have ever heard. I will pursue them with the sword until all are gone.
17The LORD of heavenly forces proclaims:
Pay attention!
Summon the women who mourn,
let them come;
send for those best trained,
let them come.
18Hurry!
Let them weep for us
so that our eyes fill up with tears
and water streams down.
19The sound of sobbing
is heard from Zion:
“We’re devastated!
We’re so ashamed!
We have to leave the land
and abandon our homes!”
20Women, hear the LORD’s word.
Listen closely to the word
from his mouth:
teach your daughters to mourn;
teach each other to grieve.
21Death has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses
to eliminate children from the streets,
the youth from the squares.
22Declare what the LORD says:
Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the fields,
like bundles of grain after the harvest,
with no one to pick them up.
23The LORD proclaims:
the learned should not boast of their knowledge,
nor warriors boast of their might,
nor the rich boast of their wealth.
24No, those who boast should boast in this:
that they understand and know me.
I am the LORD who acts with kindness,
justice, and righteousness in the world,
and I delight in these things,
declares the LORD.
25The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will deal with everyone who is physically circumcised: 26whether they are Egyptians or Judeans, Edomites or Ammonites, Moabites or the desert dwellers who cut the hair on their foreheads. All these nations are really uncircumcised; even the people of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
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