c[See ch. 8:21 above]
p[See ch. 8:21 above]
az[See ver. 1 above]
da[See ver. 23 above]
df[See ver. 25 above]
dk[See ver. 28 above]
ds[See ver. 33 above]
dv[See ver. 33 above]

Jeremiah 9

1
Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
bOh that my head were waters,
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of cthe daughter of my people!
2
Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
Oh that I had in the desert
a travelerslodging place,
that I might leave my people
and go away from them!
For they are all eadulterers,
a company of ftreacherous men.
3 gThey bend their tongue like a bow;
falsehood and not truth has grown strong
Septuagint; Hebrew  and not for truth they have grown strong
in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
iand they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4 jLet everyone beware of his neighbor,
and put no trust in any brother,
for every kbrother is a deceiver,
and every neighbor lgoes about as a slanderer.
5Everyone deceives his neighbor,
and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves committing iniquity.
6Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
mthey refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, nI will refine them and otest them,
for what else can I do, pbecause of my people?
8 qTheir tongue is a deadly arrow;
rit speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth seach speaks peace to his neighbor,
but in his heart the plans an ambush for him.
9 uShall 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 vthe pastures of the wilderness,
wbecause they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
xboth the birds of the air and the beasts
have fled and are gone.
11 yI will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
za lair of jackals,
aaand I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
without inhabitant.”
12 abWho 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 acand laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13And the Lord says: adBecause they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14but aehave stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: afBehold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them agpoisonous water to drink. 16 ahI will scatter them among the nations aiwhom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will ajsend the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
akConsider, and call for the mourning women to come;
send for the skillful women to come;
18let them make haste aland raise a wailing over us,
amthat our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids flow with water.
19For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
anHow 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.
21For death has come up into our windows;
it has entered our palaces,
aocutting off the children from the streets
and the young men from the squares.
22Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
ap‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
like dung upon the open field,
aqlike sheaves after the reaper,
and none shall gather them.’”
23Thus says the Lord: ar“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, 24but aslet 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. atFor in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

25Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when auI will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh 26 avEgypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and awall 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 axuncircumcised in heart.”

Jeremiah 23

The Righteous Branch

1 ayWoe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning azthe shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. baBehold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 bbThen I will gather the remnant of my flock bcout of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, bdand they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 beI will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

5 bfBehold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous bgBranch, and bhhe shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved, and biIsrael will bjdwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: bk‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

7 blTherefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he
Septuagint; Hebrew I
had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

9Concerning the prophets:

bnMy heart is broken within me;
boall my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord
and because of his holy words.
10 bpFor the land is full of adulterers;
bqbecause of the curse brthe land mourns,
and bsthe pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
btTheir course is evil,
and their might is not right.
11 buBoth prophet and priest are ungodly;
even bvin my house I have found their evil,

declares the Lord.
12 bwTherefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths bxin the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
byin the year of their punishment,

declares the Lord.
13In the prophets of bzSamaria
caI saw an unsavory thing:
cbthey prophesied by Baal
ccand led my people Israel astray.
14But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
cdthey commit adultery and walk in lies;
cethey strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
cfall of them have become like Sodom to me,
cgand its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
15Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets:
chBehold, I will feed them with bitter food
ciand give them cjpoisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
16Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, ckfilling you with vain hopes. clThey speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, cm‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who cnstubbornly follows his own heart, they say, coNo disaster shall come upon you.’”

18 For cpwho among them has stood in the council of the Lord
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
19 cqBehold, the storm of the Lord!
Wrath has gone forth,
cra whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
20 csThe anger of the Lord will not turn back
until he has executed and ctaccomplished
the intents of his heart.
cuIn the latter days you will understand it clearly.
21 cv“I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 cwBut if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
cxand they would have turned them from their evil way,
and cyfrom the evil of their deeds.
23 cz“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 daCan a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. dbDo I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. 25I have heard what the prophets have said dcwho prophesy lies in my name, saying, dd‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26How long shall there be lies in the heart of dethe prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27who think to make my people forget my name dfby their dreams that they tell one another, even as their dgfathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 dhLet the prophet who has a dream ditell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. djWhat has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. 29 dkIs not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and dllike a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 dmTherefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. 31Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ 32Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and dnlead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when doI did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

33 dpWhen one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,
Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden?
and drI will cast you off, declares the Lord.’
34And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ dsI will punish that man and his household. 35Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and dtyou pervert the words of duthe living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. 37Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” 39therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up and dvcast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 dwAnd I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and dxperpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

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