Jeremiah 9
9
1 OH, THAT my head were waters and my eyes a reservoir of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers [rendering worship to idols instead of to the Lord, Who has espoused the people to Himself]; they are a gang of treacherous men [faithless even to each other].
3 And they bend their tongue, [which is] their bow for the lies [they shoot]. And not according to faithfulness do they rule and become strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know and understand and acknowledge Me, says the Lord.
4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor and put no trust in any brother. For every brother is an utter and complete supplanter (one who takes by the heel and trips up, a deceiver, a Jacob), and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. [Gen. 25:26.]
5 And they deceive and mock every one his neighbor and do not speak the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit [oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit]; through deceit they refuse to know and understand Me, says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt them [by the process of affliction to remove the dross] and test them, for how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?
8 Their tongue is a murderous arrow; it speaks deceitfully; one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lays snares and waits in ambush for him.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord. Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing and for the pastures of the wilderness a lament, because they are burned up and desolated, so that no one passes through [them]; neither can men hear [any longer] the lowing of cattle. Both the fowls of the air and the beasts have fled, they are gone!
11 I will make Jerusalem heaps [of ruins], a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man who may understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through it?
13 And the Lord says, Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice or walked in accordance with it
14 But have walked stubbornly after their own hearts and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,
15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and poisonous water to drink.
16 I will scatter them also among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword among them and after them until I have consumed them.
17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come.
18 Let them make haste and raise a wailing over us and for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush with water.
19 For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] out of Zion: How we are plundered and ruined! We are greatly confounded and utterly put to shame, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings [our dwellings that have cast us out].
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O you women, and let your ears receive the word of His mouth; teach your daughters a lament, and each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.
21 For death has come up into our windows; it has entered into our palaces, cutting off the children from outdoors and the young men from the streets.
22 Speak, Thus says the Lord: The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung on the open field and like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, and none shall gather them. [Jer. 8:2.]
23 Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory and boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord. [I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17.]
25 Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will punish all who though circumcised [outwardly, in the flesh] are still uncircumcised [in corresponding inward purity]–[Rom. 2:25-29.]
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab [all of whom are related except Egypt], and all who live in the desert and who clip off the corners of their hair and beards; for all these nations are uncircumcised [in heart], and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.
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Jeremiah 9: AMPC
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1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Jeremiah 9
9
1 # 9:1
Jeremiah 9:1–26
in English Bibles is Jeremiah 8:23–9:25 in the Hebrew Bible. “I wish that my head were ⌞filled with⌟ water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears
so that I could cry day and night
for my dear people who have been killed.
2I wish I had a place to stay in the desert.
I would abandon my people and go away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a mob of traitors.
3They use their tongues like bows that shoot arrows.
Lies and dishonesty rule the land.#9:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “They bend their tongue. Their bow is falsehood. And not for truth are they strong in the land.”
They go from one evil thing to another,
and they don’t know me,” declares the Lord.
4“Beware of your neighbors.
Don’t trust your relatives.
Every relative cheats.
Every neighbor goes around slandering.
5Everyone cheats his neighbor.
No one speaks the truth.
My people train their tongues to speak lies.
They wear themselves out doing wrong.
6Oppression follows oppression.#9:6 Greek; Masoretic Text “Your sitting is in the midst of deceit.”
Deceit follows deceit.
They refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
7This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I will now refine them with fire and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
8Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
People speak politely to their neighbors,
but they think of ways to set traps for them.
9I will punish them for these things, declares the Lord.
I will punish this nation.
I still won’t be satisfied.
10I will cry and weep for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them.
No one can hear the sound of cattle.
Birds and cattle have fled.
They are gone.
11I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals.
I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
12No one is wise enough to understand this.
To whom has the Lord revealed this
so that they can explain it?
The land dies; it has been ruined like the desert
so that no one can travel through it.
13The Lord answered,
“They’ve abandoned my teachings that I placed in front of them.
They didn’t obey me, and they didn’t follow them.
14They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods—the Baals,
as their ancestors taught them.”
15This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
I am going to feed these people bitterness
and give them poison to drink.
16I will scatter them among nations
that they and their ancestors haven’t heard of.
I will send armies after them until I’ve wiped them out.
17This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider this:
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
Send for those who are the most skilled.
18They should come quickly and cry for us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will flow with water.
19The sound of crying is heard from Zion.
“We’re ruined! We’re very ashamed.
We must leave our land because our homes have been torn down.”
20Listen to the Lord’s word, you women,
and open your ears to hear his words.
Teach your daughters how to cry.
Teach your neighbors funeral songs.
21Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces.
Death has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22This is what the Lord says:
Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field.
They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.
The LORD Is the Only True God
23This is what the Lord says:
Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom.
Don’t let strong people brag about their strength.
Don’t let rich people brag about their riches.
24If they want to brag, they should brag that they understand and know me.
They should brag that I, the Lord, act out of love, righteousness,
and justice on the earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me, declares the Lord.
25“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish all who are circumcised.
26I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.
I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads
or live in the desert.
Even though these nations are circumcised,
all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.”
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.