Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish that my eyes
were fountains of tears,
so I could cry day and night
for my people
who were killed.
2I wish I could go into the desert
and find a hiding place
from all who are treacherous
and unfaithful to God.
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
3The Lord replied:
Lies come from the mouths
of my people,
like arrows from a bow.
With each dishonest deed
their power increases,
and not one of them will admit
that I am God.
4Jeremiah, all your friends
and relatives
tell lies about you,
so don't trust them.
5They wear themselves out,
always looking for a new way
to cheat their friends.
6Everyone takes advantage
of everyone else,
and no one will admit
that I am God.
7And so I will purify
the hearts of my people
just as gold is purified
in a furnace.
I have no other choice.
8They say they want peace,
but this lie is deadly,
like an arrow that strikes
when you least expect it.
9Give me one good reason
not to punish them
as they deserve.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have spoken.
Jeremiah Weeps for His People
10I weep for the pastureland
in the hill country.
It's so barren and scorched
that no one travels there.
No cattle can be found there,
and birds and wild animals
have all disappeared.
11I heard the Lord reply,
“When I am finished,
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah
will be piles of ruins
where only jackals#9.11 jackals: Desert animals related to wolves, but smaller. live.”
Why the Land Was Destroyed
12I said to the Lord, “None of us can understand why the land has become like an uncrossable desert. Won't you explain why?”
13The Lord said:
I destroyed the land because the people disobeyed me and rejected my laws and teachings. 14They were stubborn and worshiped Baal,#9.14 Baal: See the note at 2.23. just as their ancestors did. 15So I, the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, promise them poison to eat and drink.#9.15 poison to eat and drink: Or “bitter disappointment to eat, and tears to drink.” 16I'll scatter them in foreign countries that they and their ancestors have never even heard of. Finally, I will send enemy soldiers to kill every last one of them.
The Women Who Are Paid To Weep
17The Lord All-Powerful said,
“Make arrangements now
for the women who are paid
to weep at funerals,#9.17 women … weep at funerals: Or “the women who weep for Baal”; the god Baal was believed to have died and come back to life, and some women would go to places of worship and weep over the death of Baal.
especially the women
who can cry the loudest.”
18The people answered,
“Let them come quickly
and cry for us,
until our own eyes
are flooded with tears.
19Now those of us on Zion cry,
‘We are ruined!
We can't stand the shame.
Our homes have been destroyed,
and we must leave our land.’
20“We ask you women
to pay attention
to what the Lord says.
We will teach you a funeral song
that you can teach
your daughters and friends:
21‘We were in our fortress,
but death sneaked in
through our windows.
It even struck down
children at play
and our strongest young men.’
22“The Lord has told us
the ground will be covered
with dead bodies,
like ungathered stalks of grain
or manure in a field.”
What the Lord Likes Best
23The Lord says:
Don't brag about your wisdom
or strength or wealth.
24 #
1 Co 1.31; 2 Co 10.17. If you feel you must brag,
then have enough sense
to brag about worshiping me,
the Lord.
What I like best
is showing kindness,
justice, and mercy
to everyone on earth.
25-26Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert.#9.25,26 the tribes of the desert: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don't worship me. And it's the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged.
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Jeremiah 9: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 9
9
1I wish my head were a spring of water!
I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for my people who have been killed.
2I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert
where a traveler could stay!
Then I could leave my people.
I could get away from them.
All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods.
They aren’t faithful to the Lord.
3“They get ready to use
their tongues like bows,”
announces the Lord.
“Their mouths shoot out lies like arrows.
They tell lies to gain power in the land.
They go from one sin to another.
They do not pay any attention to me.
4Be on guard against your friends.
Do not trust the members of your own family.
Every one of them cheats.
Every friend tells lies.
5One friend cheats another.
No one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues how to lie.
They wear themselves out sinning.
6Jeremiah, you live among people who tell lies.
When they lie, they refuse to pay any attention to me,”
announces the Lord.
7So the Lord who rules over all says,
“I will put them through the fire to test them.
What else can I do?
My people are so sinful!
8Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They tell lies.
With their mouths all of them speak kindly to their neighbors.
But in their hearts they set traps for them.
9Shouldn’t I punish them for this?”
announces the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I pay back the nation
that does these things?”
10I will cry and mourn over the mountains.
I will sing a song of sadness about the desert grasslands.
They are dry and empty. No one travels through them.
The mooing of cattle isn’t heard there.
The birds have flown away.
All the animals are gone.
11The Lord says, “I will knock down all of Jerusalem’s buildings.
I will make it a home for wild dogs.
The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed.
No one will be able to live in them.”
12Who is wise enough to understand these things? Who has been taught by the Lord? Who can explain them? Why has the land been destroyed so completely? Why has it become like a desert that no one can go across?
13The Lord answered me, “Because my people have turned away from my law. I gave it to them. But they have not kept it. They have not obeyed me. 14Instead, they have done what their stubborn hearts wanted them to do. They have worshiped the gods that are named Baal. They have done what their people have taught them to do through the years.” 15So now the Lord who rules over all speaks. He is the God of Israel. He says, “I will make these people eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them among the nations. They and their people before them didn’t know about these nations. With swords I will chase these people. I will hunt them down until I have destroyed them.”
17The Lord rules over all. He says,
“Here is something I want you to think about.
Send for the women who mourn for the dead.
Send for the most skilled among them.”
18Let them come quickly
and weep for us.
Let them cry until tears flow from our eyes.
Let them weep until water pours out of our eyes.
19People are heard weeping in Zion.
They are saying, “We are destroyed!
We are filled with shame!
We must leave our land.
Our houses have been torn down.”
20You women, hear the Lord’s message.
Listen to what he’s saying.
Teach your daughters how to mourn for the dead.
Teach one another a song of sadness.
21Death has climbed in through our windows.
It has entered our forts.
Death has removed the children from the streets.
It has taken the young men out of the market.
22Say, “The Lord announces,
“ ‘Dead bodies will be like human waste
lying in the open fields.
They will lie there like grain
that is cut down at harvest time.
No one will gather them up.’ ”
23The Lord says,
“Do not let wise people brag about how wise they are.
Do not let strong people boast about how strong they are.
Do not let rich people brag about how rich they are.
24But here is what the one who brags should boast about.
They should brag that they have the understanding to know me.
I want them to know that I am the Lord.
No matter what I do on earth, I am always kind, fair and right.
And I take delight in this,”
announces the Lord.
25“The days are coming when I will judge people,” announces the Lord. “I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their bodies. 26That includes the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. It also includes all those who live in the desert in places far away. None of the people in these nations is really circumcised. And not even the people of Israel are circumcised in their hearts.”
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