Jeremiah 9

Grief 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 those slain of the ^cdaughter of my people!
2 ▼

▼Ch 9:1 in Heb

, ^eOh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are ^fadulterers,
An assembly of ^gtreacherous people.
3 “They ^hbend their tongues like their bows;
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 utterly ▼

▼I.e., like Jacob (a play on words)

betrays,
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 wrongdoing.
6 “Your ^rdwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^srefuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says:

“Behold, I will refine them and ^tput them to the test;
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 “ ^yShall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?

10 “I will take up a weeping and wailing for the ^zmountains,
And for the pastures of the ^aawilderness a song of mourning,
Because they are ^ablaid waste so that no one passes through,
And the sound of the livestock is not heard;
Both the ^acbirds of the sky and the animals 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 person who 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 destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have ^ajabandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have ^akfollowed the stubbornness of their heart and the ^alBaals, ▼

▼Lit which

as their ^anfathers taught them,” 15therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, ^aoI will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them ^appoisoned water to drink. 16I will also ^aqscatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^arsword after them until I have put an end to them.”

17 This is what the Lord of armies says:

“Consider and call for the ^asmourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ▼

▼I.e., professional mourners

, ^auskillful women, that they may come!
18 “Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
So that our ^aveyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.
19 “For a voice of ^awwailing is heard from Zion:
‘ ^axHow devastated we are!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^ayabandoned the land
Because they have torn down our homes.’”
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you ^azwomen,
And let your ears receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.
21 For ^badeath has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To eliminate the ^bbchildren from the streets,
The young men from the public squares.
22 Speak, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The corpses of people will fall ^bclike dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”
23 This is what the Lord says: “ ^bdLet no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the ^bemighty man boast of his might, nor a ^bfrich man boast of his riches; 24but let the one who boasts ^bgboast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^bhexercises ▼

▼Or faithfulness

mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I ^bjdelight 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 ^bkuncircumcised-- 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^blall those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^bmuncircumcised of heart.”