Jeremiah 9

1 * 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew *See ch. 13:17Oh that my head were waters,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

for the slain of *[See ch. 8:21above]the daughter of my people!

2 * 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew Oh that I had in the desert

a travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all *ch. 5:7,8;23:10;Hos. 7:4adulterers,

a company of *Isa. 21:2treacherous men.

3 *[Ps. 64:3] They bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong*9:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and not for truth they have grown strong in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

*[Judg. 2:10;Hos. 4:1]and they do not know me, declares the Lord.

4 *ch. 12:6;Ps. 41:9;Mic. 7:5Let everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every *[Gen. 27:36] brother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor *ch. 6:28;[Lev. 19:16]goes about as a slanderer.

5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity.

6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

*ch. 8:5they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:

"Behold, *Isa. 1:25I will refine them and *ch. 6:27test them,

for what else can I do, *[See ch. 8:21above]because of my people?

8 *[Ps. 57:4] Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

*[Ps. 12:2;120:3] it speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth *Ps. 28:3each speaks peace to his neighbor,

but in his heart *Hos. 7:6he plans an ambush for him.

9 *ch. 5:9,29Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10 "I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for *ch. 12:4;Ps. 65:12the pastures of the wilderness,

*ver. 12because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

*ch. 4:25both the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone.

11 *Isa. 25:2I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

*ch. 10:22;49:33;51:37a lair of jackals,

*ch. 34:22;44:6and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant."

12 *ch. 23:18;Ps. 107:43;Hos. 14:9Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined *ver. 10and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: *[Ps. 89:30-32]"Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but *See ch. 3:17have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: *Deut. 29:18;[Ps. 80:5] Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them *See ch. 8:14poisonous water to drink. 16 *Lev. 26:33;Deut. 28:64I will scatter them among the nations *ch. 15:14whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will *ch. 14:12;[ch. 49:37;Ezek. 5:2,12]send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

*[2 Chr. 35:25]"Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come;

18 let them make haste *Amos 5:16;[Matt. 9:23;Mark 5:38] and raise a wailing over us,

*ver. 1;ch. 14:17that our eyes may run down with tears

and our eyelids flow with water.

19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

*ch. 4:13‘How we are ruined!

We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

because they have cast down our dwellings.’"

20 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.

21 For death has come up into our windows;

it has entered our palaces,

*ch. 6:11cutting off the children from the streets

and the young men from the squares.

22 Speak: "Thus declares the Lord,

*See ch. 8:2‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

like dung upon the open field,

*[Lev. 23:22;Job 5:26]like sheaves after the reaper,

and none shall gather them.’"

23 Thus says the Lord: *Prov. 3:5;21:30;Eccles. 9:11"Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but *[Ps. 34:2;1 Cor. 1:31;2 Cor. 10:17] let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. *[Mic. 6:8;7:18]For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."

25 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when *[Isa. 24:21]I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 *[ch. 25:19-21] Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and *ch. 25:23;49:32;[Lev. 19:27] all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are *Lev. 26:41;Deut. 10:16;Ezek. 44:7;Rom. 2:28,29;[ch. 4:4]uncircumcised in heart."