Jer 9 | NASB1995 | STEP | Oh that 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 !

Jeremiah 9

A Lament over Zion

1 ^{▼▼ Ch 8:23 in Heb
,} ^bOh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For the slain of the ^cdaughter of my people!
2 ^{▼▼ Ch 9:1 in Heb
,} ^eOh that I had in the desert
A wayfarers’ lodging place;
That I might leave my people
And go from them!
For all of them are ^fadulterers,
An assembly of ^gtreacherous men.
3 “They ^hbend their tongue like their bow;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they ⁱproceed from evil to evil,
And they ^jdo not know Me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Let everyone ^kbe on guard against his neighbor,
And ^ldo not trust any brother;
Because every ^mbrother deals ^{▼▼ I.e. like Jacob (a play on words)}craftily,
And every neighbor ^ogoes about as a slanderer.
5 “Everyone ^pdeceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth,
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They ^qweary themselves committing iniquity.
6 “Your ^rdwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^srefuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and ^tassay them;
For ^uwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8 “Their ^vtongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one ^wspeaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he ^xsets an ambush for him.
9 ^y“Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“On a nation such as this
Shall I not avenge Myself?

10 “For the ^zmountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,
And for the pastures of the ^aawilderness a dirge,
Because they are ^ablaid waste so that no one passes through,
And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;
Both the ^acbirds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.
11 “I will make Jerusalem a ^adheap of ruins,
A haunt of ^aejackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a ^afdesolation, without inhabitant.”

12 Who is the ^agwise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom ^ahthe mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? ^aiWhy is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The Lord said, “Because they have ^ajforsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have ^akwalked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the ^alBaals, as their ^amfathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, ^anI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them ^aopoisoned water to drink. 16 “I will ^apscatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^aqsword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the ^armourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ^{▼▼ Lit skilled
,} ^atwailing women, that they may come!
18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,
That our ^aueyes may shed tears
And our eyelids flow with water.
19 “For a voice of ^avwailing is heard from Zion,
‘ ^awHow are we ruined!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^axleft the land,
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, O you ^aywomen,
And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And everyone her neighbor a dirge.
21 For ^azdeath has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To cut off the ^bachildren from the streets,
The young men from the town squares.
22 Speak, “Thus says the Lord,
‘The corpses of men will fall ^bblike dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”

23 Thus says the Lord, ^bc“Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the ^bdmighty man boast of his might, let not a ^berich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts ^bfboast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^bgexercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I ^bhdelight in these things,” declares the Lord.

25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet ^biuncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and ^bjall those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^bkuncircumcised of heart.”