Jeremiah 9

Failures of Judah

1Oh, that my head were waters

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night # Jer 13:17

for the slain of the daughter of my people! # Isa 22:4

2Oh, that I had in the wilderness

a lodging place of wayfaring men,

that I might leave my people

and go from them!

For they all are adulterers,

an assembly of treacherous men. # Jer 5:7–8; 23:10

3They bend their tongues like their bow;

lies and not truth prevail upon the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

and they do not know Me, # Jdg 2:10; Jer 4:22

says the Lord.

4Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,

and do not trust in any brother;

for every brother supplants, # Jer 12:6

and every neighbor walks about with slanders. # Jer 6:28

5Everyone deceives his neighbor

and does not speak the truth.

They have taught their tongue to speak lies; # Mic 6:12

they weary themselves in committing iniquity.

6Your habitation is in the midst of deceit;

through deceit they refuse to know Me, # Job 21:14–15; Pr 1:24

says the Lord.

7Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts:

Behold, I will refine them and assay them; # Isa 1:25; Jer 6:27

for what else shall I do

for the daughter of My people?

8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; # Jer 9:3

it speaks deceit.

One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,

but in his heart he lies in wait. # Ps 28:3

9Shall I not punish them for these things?

says the Lord.

Shall not My soul be avenged

on such a nation as this? # Jer 5:9, 29

10For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,

and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation,

because they are burned up so that no one can pass through them;

nor can men hear the lowing of the cattle.

Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast have fled;

they are gone. # Jer 12:4; Hos 4:3

11I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins

and a den of jackals; # Isa 34:13

and I will make the cities of Judah desolate,

without an inhabitant. # Isa 25:2

12Who is the wise man who may understand this? # Ps 107:43; Hos 14:9 And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?

13And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked in it, # 2Ch 7:19; Jer 22:9 14but have walked after the imagination of their own heart # Jer 3:17; 7:24 and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them. 15Therefore thus says 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. # Ps 80:5; Jer 8:14 16I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them. # Lev 26:33; Dt 28:64

17Thus says the Lord of Hosts:

Consider and call for the mourning women, # 2Ch 35:25; Ecc 12:5 that they may come;

and send for wailing women, that they may come.

18And let them make haste

and take up a wailing for us,

that our eyes may run down with tears # Jer 9:1; 14:17

and our eyelids gush out with waters.

19For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,

“How devastated we are! # Dt 28:29; Jer 4:13

We are greatly humiliated,

because we have forsaken the land,

because our dwellings have cast us out.”

20Yet hear the word of the Lord, O you women,

and let your ear receive the word of His mouth;

and teach your daughters wailing,

and everyone her neighbor a lamentation. # Isa 32:9–13

21“For death has come up into our windows;

and has entered our palaces,

to cut off the children from the streets,

and the young men from the squares.” # 2Ch 36:17; Jer 6:11

22Speak, Thus says the Lord:

“The carcasses of men shall fall

as dung upon the open field, # Ps 83:10; Jer 8:2

and as the sheaf after the harvester,

and no one shall gather them.”

23Thus says the Lord:

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,

and let not the mighty man glory in his might, # 1Ki 20:10–11

let not the rich man glory in his riches; # Ecc 9:11

24but let him who glories glory in this,

that he understands and knows Me, # 1Co 1:31

that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness,

justice, and righteousness in the earth.

For in these things I delight, # Mic 7:18

says the Lord.

25Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised # Ro 2:8–9 — 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all who dwell in the wilderness who clip the hair on their temples, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart. # Lev 26:41; Jer 4:4

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Jeremiah 9: MEV

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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version

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Jeremiah 9

The Corruption of the People

1Oh, that I had in the wilderness

a travelers’ lodging!

That I might leave my people

and depart from them.

They are all adulterers,

a band of traitors.

2They ready their tongues like a drawn bow;

with lying, and not with truth,

they are powerful in the land.

They go from evil to evil,

and me they do not know—oracle of the Lord.

3Be on your guard, everyone against his neighbor;

put no trust in any brother.

Every brother imitates Jacob, the supplanter,#Jacob, the supplanter: in Hebrew, a play on words. In the popular etymology given in Gn 25:26, the name Jacob means “he supplants,” for he deprived his brother Esau of his birthright (cf. Gn 25:33).

every neighbor is guilty of slander.

4Each one deceives the other,

no one speaks the truth.

They have accustomed their tongues to lying,

they are perverse and cannot repent.#Jer 12:6.

5Violence upon violence,

deceit upon deceit:

They refuse to know me—

oracle of the Lord.

6Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts:

I will refine them and test them;

how else should I deal with the daughter of my people?

7A murderous arrow is their tongue,

their mouths utter deceit;

They speak peaceably with their neighbors,

but in their hearts they lay an ambush!#Ps 28:3; 62:4.

8Should I not punish them for these deeds—oracle of the Lord;

on a nation such as this should I not take vengeance?#Jer 5:9, 29.

Dirge over the Ravaged Land

9Over the mountains I shall break out in cries of lamentation,

over the pastures in the wilderness, in a dirge:

They are scorched, and no one crosses them,

no sound of lowing cattle;

Birds of the air as well as beasts,

all have fled and are gone.#Jer 4:25; 12:4.

10I will turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,

a haunt of jackals;

The cities of Judah I will make a waste,

where no one dwells.#Is 13:22.

11Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken? Let him declare it!

Why is the land ravaged,

scorched like a wilderness no one crosses?#Ps 107:43; Hos 14:10.

12The Lord said: Because they have abandoned my law, which I set before them, and did not listen to me or follow it, 13but followed instead their stubborn hearts and the Baals, as their ancestors had taught them,#Jer 7:24; 19:4–5. 14therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: See now, I will give this people wormwood to eat and poisoned water to drink.#Jer 23:15. 15I will scatter them among nations whom neither they nor their ancestors have known; I will send the sword to pursue them until I have completely destroyed them.#Lv 26:33; Dt 28:36, 64.

16Thus says the Lord of hosts:

Inquire, and call the wailing women to come;

summon the most skilled of them.

17Let them come quickly

and raise for us a dirge,

That our eyes may run with tears,

our pupils flow with water.#Jer 14:17.

18The sound of the dirge is heard from Zion:

We are ruined and greatly ashamed;

We have left the land,

given up our dwellings!

19Hear, you women, the word of the Lord,

let your ears receive the word of his mouth.

Teach your daughters a dirge,

and each other a lament:

20Death has come up through our windows,

has entered our citadels,

To cut down children in the street,

young people in the squares.#Jer 14:16.

21Corpses shall fall

like dung in the open field,

Like sheaves behind the harvester,

with no one to gather them.

True Glory

22Thus says the Lord:

Let not the wise boast of his wisdom,

nor the strong boast of his strength,

nor the rich man boast of his riches;

23But rather, let those who boast, boast of this,

that in their prudence they know me,#Prv 21:30.

Know that I, the Lord, act with fidelity,

justice, and integrity on earth.

How I take delight in these—oracle of the Lord.

False Circumcision. 24See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when I will demand an account of all those circumcised in the foreskin:#Jer 4:4. 25Egypt and Judah, Edom and the Ammonites, Moab, and those who live in the wilderness and shave their temples.#Shave their temples: some Arabian tribes practiced this custom. None of the nations who practice circumcision understand the meaning of their action, not even Israel; no one conforms to life under the covenant. For all the nations are uncircumcised, even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised at heart.

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