Jeremias 9

Ak, var mit Hoved Vand, mine Øjne en Tårekilde! Så græd jeg Dag og Nat over mit Folks Datters slagne.

Ak, fandt jeg i Ørkenen et Herberg for vandringsmænd. Så drog jeg bort fra mit Folk og gik fra dem. Thi Horkarle er de alle, en svigefuld Bande;

de spænder deres Tunges Bue. Løgn, ikke Sandhed råder i Landet; thi de går fra Ondskab til Ondskab og kender ej mig, så lyder det fra HERREN.

Vogt eder hver for sin Næste, tro ingen Broder, thi hver Broder er fuld af List, hver sværter sin Næste.

De fører hverandre bag Lyset, taler ikke Sandhed: de øver Tungen i Løgn, skejer ud, vil ej vende om,

Voldsdåd Slag i Slag og Svig på Svig; de nægter at kendes ved mig, så lyder det fra HERREN.

Derfor, så siger Hærskarers HERRE: Se, jeg smelter og prøver dem, ja, hvad må jeg dog gøre for mit Folks Datters Skyld!

Deres Tunge er en morders Pil, deres Munds Ord Svig; med Næsten taler de Fred, men i Hjertet bærer de Svig.

Skal jeg ikke hjemsøge dem for sligt, så lyder det fra HERREN, skal ikke min Sjæl tage Hævn over sligt et Folk?

Over Bjergene bryder jeg ud i Gråd og Klage, over ØrkenensGræsgang i Klagesang. Thi de er afsvedet, mennesketomme, der høres ej Lyd af Kvæg; Himlens Fugle og Dyrene flygtede bort.

Jerusalem gør jeg til Stenhob. Sjakalers Bolig, og Judas Byer til Ørk, hvor ingen bor.

Hvem er viis nok til at fatte dette, og til hvem har HERRENs Mund talet, så han kan sige det: Hvorfor er Landet lagt øde, afsvedet som en Ørken, mennesketomt?

Og HERREN sagde: Fordi de forlod min Lov, som jeg forelagde dem, og ikke hørte min Røst eller vandrede efter den,

men fulgte deres Hjertes Stivsind og Baalerne, som deres Fædre lærte dem at kende,

derfor, så siger Hærskarers HERRE Israels Gud: Se, jeg giver dette Folk Malurt at spise og Gift at drikke;

jeg spreder dem blandt Folk, som hverken de eller deres Fædre før kendte til, og sender Sværdet efter dem, til jeg får gjort Ende på dem.

Så siger Hærskarers HERRE, mærk jer det vel! Kald Klagekvinder hid, lad dem komme, hent kyndige Kvinder, lad dem komme,

lad dem haste og istemme Klage over os! Vore Øjne skal rinde med Gråd, vore Øjenlåg strømme med Vand.

Ja, hør, I Kvinder, mit Ord, eders Øre fange Ord fra min Mund, og lær eders døtre Klage, hverandre Klagesang:

Døden steg op i vore Vinduer; kom i Paladserne, udrydded Barnet på Gaden, de unge på Torvene.

Sig: så lyder det fra HERREN: De døde Legemer faldt som Gødning på Marken, som Skåret efter Høstmanden; ingen binder op.

Så siger HERREN: Den vise rose sig ikke af sin Visdom, den stærke ikke af sin Styrke, den rige ikke af sin Rigdom;

men den, som vil rose sig, skal rose sig af at han har Forstand til at kende mig, at jeg, HERREN, øver Miskundhed, Ret og Retfærdighed på Jorden; thi i sådanne har jeg Behag, lyder det fra HERREN.

Se, Dage skal komme, lyder det fra HERREN, da jeg hjemsøger alle de omskårne, som har Forhud:

Ægypten, Juda, Edom, Ammoniterne, Moab og alle Ørkenboere med rundklippet Hår; thi Hedningerne er alle uomskårne, men alt Israels Hus har uomskåret Hjerte.

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! {Oh...: Heb. Who will give my head, etc}

Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they {be} all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

And they bend their tongues {like} their bow {for} lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. {neighbour: or, friend}

And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, {and} weary themselves to commit iniquity. {deceive: or, mock}

Thine habitation {is} in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

Their tongue {is as} an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: {one} speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. {in heart: Heb. in the midst of him} {his wait: or, wait for him}

Shall I not visit them for these {things}? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through {them}; neither can {men} hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. {habitations: or, pastures} {burned up: or, desolate} {both...: Heb. from the fowl even to, etc}

And I will make Jerusalem heaps, {and} a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. {desolate: Heb. desolation}

Who {is} the wise man, that may understand this? and {who is he} to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth {and} is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

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: {imagination: or, stubbornness}

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}.

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise {man} glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty {man} glory in his might, let not the rich {man} glory in his riches:

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I {am} the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these {things} I delight, saith the LORD.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all {them which are} circumcised with the uncircumcised; {punish: Heb. visit upon}

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all {that are} in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all {these} nations {are} uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel {are} uncircumcised in the heart. {in the utmost...: Heb. cut off into corners, or, having the corners of their hair polled}