Jeremiah 9
9
1 # 9:1 Verse 9:1 is numbered 8:23 in Hebrew text. If only my head were a pool of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
for all my people who have been slaughtered.
2 # 9:2 Verses 9:2-26 are numbered 9:1-25 in Hebrew text. Oh, that I could go away and forget my people
and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert.
For they are all adulterers—
a pack of treacherous liars.
Judgment for Disobedience
3“My people bend their tongues like bows
to shoot out lies.
They refuse to stand up for the truth.
They only go from bad to worse.
They do not know me,”
says the Lord.
4“Beware of your neighbor!
Don’t even trust your brother!
For brother takes advantage of brother,
and friend slanders friend.
5They all fool and defraud each other;
no one tells the truth.
With practiced tongues they tell lies;
they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
6They pile lie upon lie
and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,”
says the Lord.
7Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“See, I will melt them down in a crucible
and test them like metal.
What else can I do with my people?#9:7 Hebrew with the daughter of my people? Greek version reads with the evil daughter of my people?
8For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows.
They speak friendly words to their neighbors
while scheming in their heart to kill them.
9Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?”
10I will weep for the mountains
and wail for the wilderness pastures.
For they are desolate and empty of life;
the lowing of cattle is heard no more;
the birds and wild animals have all fled.
11“I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,” says the Lord.
“It will be a place haunted by jackals.
The towns of Judah will be ghost towns,
with no one living in them.”
12Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it to others? Why has the land been so ruined that no one dares to travel through it?
13The Lord replies, “This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. 14Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. 15So now, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. 16I will scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely.”
Weeping in Jerusalem
17This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“Consider all this, and call for the mourners.
Send for the women who mourn at funerals.
18Quick! Begin your weeping!
Let the tears flow from your eyes.
19Hear the people of Jerusalem#9:19 Hebrew Zion. crying in despair,
‘We are ruined! We are completely humiliated!
We must leave our land,
because our homes have been torn down.’”
20Listen, you women, to the words of the Lord;
open your ears to what he has to say.
Teach your daughters to wail;
teach one another how to lament.
21For death has crept in through our windows
and has entered our mansions.
It has killed off the flower of our youth:
Children no longer play in the streets,
and young men no longer gather in the squares.
22This is what the Lord says:
“Bodies will be scattered across the fields like clumps of manure,
like bundles of grain after the harvest.
No one will be left to bury them.”
23This is what the Lord says:
“Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,
or the powerful boast in their power,
or the rich boast in their riches.
24But those who wish to boast
should boast in this alone:
that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord
who demonstrates unfailing love
and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,
and that I delight in these things.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
25“A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit— 26the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places,#9:26 Or in the desert and clip the corners of their hair. and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”
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Jeremiah 9: NLT
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Jeremiah 9
9
1 #Jeremiah 9:1–26 in the English Bible is 8:23–9:25 in the Hebrew Bible Oh that my head were waters,#Literally “Who he gives my head waters”
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night,
for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2Oh that I had#Literally “Who he gives me” in the desert a place of overnight lodging for travelers,
that I may leave my people and go from them,
for all of them are adulterers,
a band of traitors.
3And they bend their tongue like their bow,
for falsehood and not truth is superior in the land,
for they go forth#Or “proceed” from evil to evil,
and they do not know me,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
A Nation Characterized by Deceit
4“Let everyone be on your guard against his neighbor,
and you must not trust in any brother,
for everyone surely betrays,
and every neighbor goes about with slander.
5And everyone deceives his neighbor,
and they do not speak the truth,
they have taught their tongues#Hebrew “tongue” to speak lies,#Hebrew “lie”
they are tired from going astray.
6Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit,
upon#Or “through” deceit they refuse to know me,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
7Therefore, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“Look, I am about to refine them,
and I will test them,
for what else can I do,
because of the presence#Literally “faces” of the daughter of my people?
8Their tongue is a murderous arrow,
it speaks deceit.
With his mouth he speaks peace with his neighbor,
but in his inner parts he sets up his ambush.
9Because of these things shall I not punish them?” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh,
“On a nation that is like this shall I not take revenge?
10For the mountains I lift up weeping and wailing,
and for the pastures of the desert a lament,
because they are laid waste so that no man passes through.
And the sounds#Hebrew “sound” of cattle are not heard,
from the birds#Hebrew “bird” of heaven to the animals#Hebrew “animal”
they have fled, they are gone.
11And I will make Jerusalem as heaps of ruins, a lair of jackals,
and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, without inhabitants.#Literally “from no inhabitant”
12Who is the wise man that can understand this?
And to whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, so that he may declare it?
Why is the land destroyed?
It is laid waste like the desert#Or “wilderness” so that no one passes through.”
The Nation is Judged by Yahweh
13And Yahweh said, “Because of their forsaking my law that I set before#Literally “to the face of” them, and they have not obeyed my voice, and have not walked in it, 14but they went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their ancestors#Or “fathers” taught them.” 15Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Look, I am feeding this people wormwood, and providing drink for them, water of poison, 16and I will scatter them among the nations that they have not known, they and their ancestors,#Or “fathers” and I will send the sword after them until I bring them to an end.”
17Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“Consider closely, and call for the wailing women, so that they come,
and for the skillful women, so that they come.
18And let them hasten,
and let them lift up wailing over us,
so that our eyes may melt with tears,
and our eyelids may flow with water.
19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion,
‘How we are devastated!
We are very ashamed because we have left the land,
because they have overthrown our dwelling places.’
20For hear, O women, the word of Yahweh,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth,
and teach your daughters a lamentation,
and each woman her neighbor a lament.
21For death has come into our windows,
it has entered into our fortresses,
to cut off the children#Hebrew “child” from the streets,#Hebrew “street”
the young men from the public squares.
22Speak, ‘thus declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh:
“The dead body of the human will fall
like dung upon the surface of the field,
and like cut grain behind the reaper,
and there is no one who gathers.” ’ ”
The Things in Which Yahweh Delights
23Thus says Yahweh,
“The wise man must not boast in his wisdom,
and the warrior must not boast in his might,
the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
24But only#Literally “But it” in this must the one who boasts boast,
that he has insight,
and that he knows me,
that I am Yahweh,
showing loyal love, justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for in these things I delight,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh.
The Way of the Nations
25“Look, days are coming,” declares#Literally “a declaration of” Yahweh, “and I will call into account all those who are circumcised in the foreskin: 26Egypt, Judah, and Edom, and the Ammonites,#Literally “sons/children of Ammon” and Moab, and all those who are trimmed to the side, those who live in the desert,#Or “wilderness” for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”
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