Jeremiah 9
9
1Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 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 be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3And they bend their tongue as it were their bow for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. 4Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will go about with slanders. 5And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. 7Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people? 8Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him. 9Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled, they are gone. 11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
12Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land and perished burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through? 13And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15therefore thus saith 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. 16I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. 17Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the cunning 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, and our eyelids gush out with waters. 19For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. 20Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. 21For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. 22Speak, Thus saith the LORD, The carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
23Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. 25Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised in their uncircumcision; 26Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair polled, that dwell in the wilderness: for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
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Jeremiah 9: RV1895
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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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