Jeremiah 9
9
1If my head were a flowing spring,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night#Ps 42:3; Jr 13:17; Lm 2:11; Lk 19:41
over the slain of my dear#9:1 Lit slain among the daughter of my people.
2If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,#1Kg 19:9–10
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,#Jr 23:10; Hs 7:4; Mal 3:5
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.#Is 24:16; 33:1; Jr 12:1
3They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take me into account.#Jr 4:22
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Imminent Ruin and Exile
4Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,#Gn 27:36
and every friend spread slander.#Jr 6:28
5Each one betrays his friend;#Gn 31:7
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
6You live in a world of deception.#9:6 LXX reads Oppression on oppression, deceit on deceit#Gn 27:35–36; 34:13
In their deception they refuse to know me.#Rm 1:17
This is the Lord’s declaration.
7Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says:
I am about to refine them and test them,#Is 1:25; Jr 6:27
for what else can I do
because of my dear#9:7 Lit of the daughter of my people?#9:7 LXX, Tg read because of their evils
8Their tongues are deadly arrows —
they speak deception.#Ps 28:3
With his mouth
one speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
9Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself#Jr 5:9,29
on such a nation as this?
10I will raise weeping and a lament
over the mountains,
a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,
for they have been so scorched
that no one passes through.
The sound of cattle is no longer heard.
From the birds of the sky to the animals,#Jr 4:25; 12:4
everything has fled — they have gone away.
11I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble,#2Kg 19:25; Is 25:2
a jackals’ den.#Jr 10:22; 49:33; 51:37
I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
an uninhabited place.
12Who is the person wise enough to understand this?#Ps 107:43; Ec 8:1; Hs 14:9 Who has the Lord spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?
13The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned my instruction,#2Ch 12:1 which I set before them, and did not obey my voice or walk according to it. 14Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts#Dt 29:19; Ps 81:12 and followed the Baals as their ancestors taught them.”#Jr 2:8,23 15Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood#Dt 29:18; Jr 23:15; Lm 3:19 and give them poisonous water to drink.#Jr 8:14; 23:15 16I will scatter them among the nations#Lv 26:33; Dt 4:27; 28:64 that they and their ancestors have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
Mourning over Judah
17This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider, and summon the women who mourn;#Ec 12:5; Am 5:16
send for the skillful women.
18Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids be soaked with weeping.
19For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion:
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,#Jr 2:26; 6:15; 8:12
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.
20Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to#9:20 Lit Your ears must receive the words from his mouth.
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
21for Death#Jb 18:13; 28:22; Ps 49:14 has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.
22“Speak as follows: ‘This is what the Lord declares: Human corpses will fall like manure on the surface of the field,#2Kg 9:30,32,37 like newly cut grain#Am 2:13; Mc 4:12; Zch 12:6 after the reaper with no one to gather it.
Boast in the Lord
23“‘This is what the Lord says:
The wise person should not boast in his wisdom;
the strong should not boast in his strength;
the wealthy should not boast in his wealth.
24But the one who boasts should boast in this:
that he understands and knows me#Ps 34:2; 64:10; 105:3; 1Co 1:31; 2Co 10:17 —
that I am the Lord, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25“‘Look, the days are coming — this is the Lord’s declaration — when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:#Jr 4:4; Rm 2:28–29 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples.#9:26 Or who live in distant places All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.’”#Lv 19:27; Jr 25:23; 49:32; Ezk 44:7,9
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Jeremiah 9: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish my head were like a spring of water.
And I wish my eyes were 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.
Then I could leave my people.
I could go away from them.
This is because they are all unfaithful to God.
They are all turning against him.
Judah’s Failures
3“They use their tongues like a bow.
They shoot 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 your friends.
Don’t trust your own brothers.
This is because every brother is a cheater.
And every friend tells lies about you.
5Everyone lies to his friend.
No one speaks the truth.
The people of Judah have taught their tongues to lie.
They become tired from sinning.
6Jeremiah, you live in the middle of evil.
And lies follow lies.
The people have refused to know me,” says the Lord.
7So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“I will test the people of Judah as a person tests metal in a fire.
I have no other choice.
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 them the punishment they deserve?”
10I, Jeremiah, will cry loudly for the mountains.
I will 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.
It will become a home for wild dogs.
I will destroy the cities in the land of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12What man 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. They have not done what I told them to do. 14Instead, the people of Judah were stubborn. They followed the false god Baal. Their fathers taught them to do this!” 15So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them through other nations. They will live in strange 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 of heaven’s armies says:
“Now, think about these things!
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
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 come out of our eyes.
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.
It has entered our strong cities.
Death has taken away our children who play in the streets.
It has taken the young men who meet in the city squares.
22Say, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The dead bodies of men will lie
in the open field like dung.
They will lie on the ground like grain a farmer has cut.
But there will be no one to gather them.’”
23This is what the Lord says:
“Wise men must not brag about their wisdom.
Strong men must not brag about their strength.
Rich men must not brag about their money.
24But if someone wants to brag, let him brag about this:
Let him brag that he understands and knows me.
Let him brag that I am the Lord.
Let him brag that I am kind and fair.
Let him brag 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. 26That is the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. I will also punish the desert people who cut their hair short. The men in all those countries have not given themselves to serving me. And the men of Israel do not give themselves to serving me.”
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.