Jer 9:2-9 | NASB2020 | STEP | Oh 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 adulterers , An assembly of treacherous people .

Jeremiah 9:2-9

2 ^{▼▼Ch 9:1 in Heb
,} ^bOh 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 ^cadulterers,
An assembly of ^dtreacherous people.
3 “They ^ebend their tongues like their bows;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they ^fproceed from evil to evil,
And they ^gdo not know Me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Let everyone ^hbe on guard against his neighbor,
And ⁱdo not trust any brother;
Because every ^jbrother utterly ^{▼▼I.e., like Jacob (a play on words)}betrays,
And every neighbor ^lgoes about as a slanderer.
5 “Everyone ^mdeceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They ⁿweary themselves committing wrongdoing.
6 “Your ^odwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^prefuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.
7 Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says:

“Behold, I will refine them and ^qput them to the test;
For ^rwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8 “Their ^stongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one ^tspeaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he ^usets an ambush for him.
9 “ ^vShall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?