Jeremiah 9:13-22 - Compare All Versions

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GOD’s answer: “Because they abandoned my plain teaching. They wouldn’t listen to anything I said, refused to live the way I told them to. Instead they lived any way they wanted and took up with the Baal gods, who they thought would give them what they wanted—following the example of their parents.” And this is the consequence. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so: “I’ll feed them with pig slop. “I’ll give them poison to drink. “Then I’ll scatter them far and wide among godless peoples that neither they nor their parents have ever heard of, and I’ll send Death in pursuit until there’s nothing left of them.” A Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies: “Look over the trouble we’re in and call for help. Send for some singers who can help us mourn our loss. Tell them to hurry— to help us express our loss and lament, Help us get our tears flowing, make tearful music of our crying. Listen to it! Listen to that torrent of tears out of Zion: ‘We’re a ruined people, we’re a shamed people! We’ve been driven from our homes and must leave our land!’” * * * Mourning women! Oh, listen to GOD’s Message! Open your ears. Take in what he says. Teach your daughters songs for the dead and your friends the songs of heartbreak. Death has climbed in through the window, broken into our bedrooms. Children on the playgrounds drop dead, and young men and women collapse at their games. Speak up! “GOD’s Message

And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: therefore 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. I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: and 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. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out. Yet 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. For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

The LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.” Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come! Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, ‘How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ” Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. Speak, “Thus says the LORD, ‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’ ”

The LORD answered, “It is because Judah quit following my teachings that I gave them. They have not obeyed me or done what I told them to do. Instead, they were stubborn and followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them to do. So this is what the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. I will scatter them through other nations that they and their ancestors never knew about. I will chase the people of Judah with the sword until they are all killed.” This is what the LORD All-Powerful says: “Now, think about these things! Call for the women who cry at funerals to come. Send for those women who are good at that job. Let them come quickly and cry loudly for us. Then our eyes will fill with tears, and streams of water will flow from our eyelids. The sound of loud crying is heard from Jerusalem: ‘We are truly ruined! We are truly ashamed! We must leave our land, because our houses are in ruins.’ ” Now, women of Judah, listen to the word of the LORD ; open your ears to hear the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to cry loudly. Teach one another a funeral song. Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our strong cities. Death has taken away our children who play in the streets and the young men who meet in the city squares. Say, “This is what the LORD says: ‘The dead bodies of people will lie in the open field like dung. They will lie like grain a farmer has cut, but there will be no one to gather them.’ ”

And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I 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. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come: and 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. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation. For 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. Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather them.

The LORD said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them. Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids. The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.’ ” Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament. Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the young men from the public squares. Say, “This is what the LORD declares: “ ‘Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.’ ”

And the LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them,” therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water. For 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 our dwellings.’ ” Yet 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. For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children— no longer to be outside! And the young men— no longer on the streets! Speak, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, Like cuttings after the harvester, And no one shall gather them.’ ”

The LORD said, “Because they have turned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it, but have walked stubbornly after their [own] heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and poisonous water to drink. I will [also] scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.” Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women to come; Send for the wailing women to come. “Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. “For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] from Zion: ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed, Because we have left the land, Because they have torn down our dwellings.’ ” Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women, And let your ear hear the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters a song of mourning, And each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge. For death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces, Cutting off the children from the streets And the young men from the town squares. Speak, “Thus says the LORD, ‘The dead bodies of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, And no one will gather them.’ ” [Jer 8:2]

The LORD replies, “This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said. Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. So now, this is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. I will scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely.” This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: “Consider all this, and call for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals. Quick! Begin your weeping! Let the tears flow from your eyes. Hear the people of Jerusalem crying in despair, ‘We are ruined! We are completely humiliated! We must leave our land, because our homes have been torn down.’” Listen, you women, to the words of the LORD; open your ears to what he has to say. Teach your daughters to wail; teach one another how to lament. For death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has killed off the flower of our youth: Children no longer play in the streets, and young men no longer gather in the squares. This is what the LORD says: “Bodies will be scattered across the fields like clumps of manure, like bundles of grain after the harvest. No one will be left to bury them.”

YAHWEH himself supplies the answer: “Because they have rejected my laws, which I gave them, they refused to live as I told them, and they have not listened to my voice. Instead, they stubbornly followed their hearts’ desires and chased after the Baals, just like their ancestors taught them. Therefore I, YAHWEH, the God of Israel and Commander of Angel Armies, say to you: “Look! I will feed them bitter wormwood, and give them poisonous water to drink. I will also scatter them among the nations. They will live as exiles among people they and their fathers have never known. I will send the sword after them until I have made an end of them.” YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies, says: “Look around you and discern. Summon the wailing women. Call for those most skilled at mourning. Let them hurry and wail over us that our eyes may overflow with tears and our eyelids gush with water. For the voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘We are so ruined and shamed! We have had to leave our land because enemies have demolished our homes.’ ” Women, listen to the word of YAHWEH and take to heart the word he speaks. Teach your daughters to mourn; teach your neighbor a funeral song. For Death has crept in through our windows, forcing its way past our fortified defenses, cutting down the child playing outside and the young men in the streets. Tell everyone: “This is the prophecy of YAHWEH: ‘Corpses will lie unburied like dung on the open field, like stalks of grain after the reaper, with no one to gather them up.’ ”

And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.” Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come; let them make haste and raise a wailing over us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids flow with water. For 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.’” Hear, O women, the word of the LORD, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; teach to your daughters a lament, and each to her neighbor a dirge. For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares. Speak: “Thus declares the LORD, ‘The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung upon the open field, like sheaves after the reaper, and none shall gather them.’”