Jeremiah 9
9
1 # 9.1 Ch 8.23 in Heb
O that my head were a spring of water,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of my poor people!
2 # 9.2 Ch 9.1 in Heb O that I had in the desert
a traveler's lodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a band of traitors.
3They bend their tongues like bows;
they have grown strong in the land for falsehood, and not for truth;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know me, says the Lord.
4Beware of your neighbors,
and put no trust in any of your kin;#9.4 Heb in a brother
for all your kin#9.4 Heb for every brother are supplanters,
and every neighbor goes around like a slanderer.
5They all deceive their neighbors,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they commit iniquity and are too weary to repent.#9.5 Cn Compare Gk: Heb they weary themselves with iniquity. Your dwelling
6Oppression upon oppression, deceit#9.6 Cn: Heb Your dwelling in the midst of deceit upon deceit!
They refuse to know me, says the Lord.
7Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
I will now refine and test them,
for what else can I do with my sinful people?#9.7 Or my poor people
8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceit through the mouth.
They all speak friendly words to their neighbors,
but inwardly are planning to lay an ambush.
9Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord;
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this?
10Take up#9.10 Gk Syr: Heb I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the animals
have fled and are gone.
11I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a lair of jackals;
and I will make the towns of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.
12Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, so that they may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13And the Lord says: Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, or walked in accordance with it, 14but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their ancestors taught them. 15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am feeding this people with wormwood, and giving them poisonous water to drink. 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known; and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.
The People Mourn in Judgment
17Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skilled women to come;
18let them quickly raise a dirge over us,
so that our eyes may run down with tears,
and our eyelids flow with water.
19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
“How we are ruined!
We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
because they have cast down our dwellings.”
20Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
and let your ears receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a dirge,
and each to her neighbor a lament.
21“Death has come up into our windows,
it has entered our palaces,
to cut off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.”
22Speak! Thus says the Lord:
“Human corpses shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves behind the reaper,
and no one shall gather them.”
23Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.
25The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will attend to all those who are circumcised only in the foreskin: 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all those with shaven temples who live in the desert. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.
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Jeremiah 9: NRSV-CI
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 9
9
1 "Who will provide water for my head, and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 Who will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of transgressors.
3 And they have bent their tongue, like a bow, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one evil to another. But they have not known me, says the Lord.
4 Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.
5 And a man will deride his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they have labored to commit iniquity.
6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they have refused to know me, says the Lord."
7 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them, and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face of the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.
9 Shall I not visit upon them concerning these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
10 I will take up weeping and lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched because no man is passing through them. And they have not heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air, even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.
11 And I will make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and has been scorched like a desert, so much so that no one passes through it?"
13 And the Lord said: "It is because they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.
14 And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers."
15 For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I will give them the water of gall to drink.
16 And I will disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until they are consumed."
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.
18 'Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with water.'
19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion: 'How is it that we have been devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.' "
20 "Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord! And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her neighbor to mourn:
21 'For death has climbed through our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little children from the outdoors, the youths from the streets.' "
22 "Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to gather it."
23 Thus says the Lord: "The wise man should not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his riches.
24 But he who glories should glory in this: to know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth. For these things are pleasing to me, says the Lord.
25 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:
26 upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
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