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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Jeremiah 9: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 9
9
1Oh, #Is. 22:4; Jer. 10:19; Lam. 2:18that my head were waters,
And my 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 for travelers;
That I might leave my people,
And go from them!
For #Jer. 5:7, 8; 23:10; Hos. 4:2they are all adulterers,
An assembly of treacherous men.
3“And like their bow #Ps. 64:3; Is. 59:4; Jer. 9:8; Hos. 4:1, 2they have bent their tongues for lies.
They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from #Jer. 4:22; 13:23evil to evil,
And they #Judg. 2:10; 1 Sam. 2:12; Jer. 4:22; Hos. 4:1; 1 Cor. 15:34do not know Me,” says the Lord.
4“Everyone#Ps. 12:2; Prov. 26:24, 25; Jer. 9:8; Mic. 7:5, 6 take heed to his neighbor,
And do not trust any brother;
For every brother will utterly supplant,
And every neighbor will #Ps. 15:3; Prov. 10:18; Jer. 6:28walk with slanderers.
5Everyone will #Ps. 36:3, 4; Is. 59:4deceive his neighbor,
And will not speak the truth;
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord.
7Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, #Is. 1:25; Jer. 6:27; Mal. 3:3I will refine them and try them;
#Hos. 11:8For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people?
8Their tongue is an arrow shot out;
It speaks #Ps. 12:2deceit;
One speaks #Ps. 55:21peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,
But in his heart he lies in wait.
9#Is. 1:24; Jer. 5:9, 29Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains,
And #Jer. 4:26; Hos. 4:3for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation,
Because they are burned up,
So that no one can pass through;
Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle.
#Jer. 4:25; Hos. 4:3Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled;
They are gone.
11“I will make Jerusalem #Is. 25:2; Jer. 19:3, 8; 26:9a heap of ruins, #Is. 13:22; 34:13a den of jackals.
I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
12#Ps. 107:43; Is. 42:23; Hos. 14:9Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through?
13And the Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have #Jer. 3:25; 7:24not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14but they have #Jer. 7:24; 11:8; Rom. 1:21–24walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, #Gal. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:18which their fathers taught them,” 15therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will #Ps. 80:5feed them, this people, #Deut. 29:18; Jer. 8:14; 23:15; Lam. 3:15with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16I will #Lev. 26:33; Deut. 28:64; Jer. 15:2–4scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. #Lev. 26:33; Jer. 44:27; Ezek. 5:2And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.”
The People Mourn in Judgment
17Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Consider and call for #2 Chr. 35:25; Job 3:8; Eccl. 12:5; Amos 5:16; Matt. 9:23the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
18Let them make haste
And take up a wailing for us,
That #Is. 22:4; Jer. 9:1; 14:17our eyes may run with tears,
And our eyelids gush with water.
19For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How we are plundered!
We are greatly ashamed,
Because we have forsaken the land,
Because we have been cast out of #Lev. 18:28our dwellings.’ ”
20Yet hear the word of the Lord, O women,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
21For death has come through our windows,
Has entered our palaces,
To kill off #2 Chr. 36:17; Jer. 6:11; 18:21; Ezek. 9:5, 6the children— no longer to be outside!
And the young men— no longer on the streets!
22Speak, “Thus says the Lord:
‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall #Ps. 83:10; Is. 5:25; Jer. 8:1, 2as refuse on the open field,
Like cuttings after the harvester,
And no one shall gather them.’ ”
23Thus says the Lord:
#(Eccl. 9:11; Is. 47:10); Ezek. 28:3–7“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his #Ps. 33:16–18might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24But #Ps. 20:7; 44:8; Is. 41:16; Jer. 4:2; 1 Cor. 1:31; 2 Cor. 10:17; (Gal. 6:14)let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
#Is. 61:8; Mic. 7:18For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
25“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that #(Jer. 4:4; Rom. 2:28, 29)I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised— 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the #Jer. 25:23farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are #Lev. 26:41; Jer. 4:4; 6:10; Ezek. 44:7; (Rom. 2:28)uncircumcised in the heart.”
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.