Jeremiah 9
1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night over the slain daughter of my people.
O that my head were waters, And mine eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 If only I had a traveler’s lodge in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a crowd of faithless people.
O that I had a traveller's lodge in the wilderness, That I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers; An assembly of revolters.
3 “They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,”
They bend their tongues, like their bows, for lies, And not by truth do they grow mighty in the earth; They proceed from wickedness to wickedness, And have no regard to me, saith Jehovah.
4 “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
Be on your guard each one against his neighbor, And trust ye not in any brother; For every brother will supplant, And every neighbor will slander.
5 Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
They deceive every one his neighbor, And do not speak the truth; They have accustomed their tongues to speak lies; They weary themselves in doing iniquity.
6 You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,”
Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit, [[O prophet!]] Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.
7 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of the daughter of My people?
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Behold I will melt them and try them; For what else can I do on account of the daughter of my people?
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; Every one of them speaketh treachery; With their mouth they speak peace to their neighbor, But in their heart they lay snares for him.
9 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
Shall I not punish them for these things? saith Jehovah; Shall I not be avenged on such a nation as this?
10 I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
For the mountains will I lift up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the plains a lamentation, For they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; No more is heard the voice of the cattle; Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled, and are gone.
11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
I will make Jerusalem heaps of stones, The dwelling-place of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?
Who is the wise man, that he may understand this, And he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it? Why is it that the land perisheth, That it is burned up like a desert, which none passeth through?
13 And the LORD answered, “It is because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them; they have not walked in it or obeyed My voice.
Jehovah himself hath said: It is because they have forsaken my law, Which I set before them, And have not hearkened to my voice, Nor walked according to it;
14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
But have walked after the obstinacy of their own heart, And after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.
15 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will feed this people wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, And give them water of hemlock to drink.
16 I will scatter them among the nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
I will also scatter them among nations Which neither they nor their fathers have known, And I will send after them the sword, Till I have made an end of them.
17 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come, And send to the skilful ones, that they may come;
18 Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.
Let them make haste, and lift up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run down with tears, And our eyelids gush forth with waters.
19 For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’”
Behold, a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: “How are we spoiled! How are we put to shame! We must leave our native land; They have cast down our habitations.”
20 Now, O women, hear the word of the LORD. Open your ears to the word of His mouth. Teach your daughters to wail, and one another to lament.
Hear, O ye women, the word of Jehovah! Let your ear receive the word of his mouth! Teach your daughters a lamentation, And every one her companion a mournful dirge!
21 For death has climbed in through our windows; it has entered our fortresses to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the town squares.
For death cometh in through our windows, It entereth our palaces; It cutteth off the children from the street, And the young men from the public places.
22 Declare that this is what the LORD says: “The corpses of men will fall like dung upon the open field, like newly cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather it.”
Declare it, saith Jehovah! The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, And as the handful behind the reaper, Which none gathereth up.
23 This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
Thus saith Jehovah: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty glory in his might, Nor let the rich glory in his riches!
24 But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth— for I delight in these things,”
But let him that glorieth glory in this, That he hath regard to me, and knoweth me, That I am Jehovah, who exercise loving-kindness, Justice, and righteousness upon the earth; For in these do I delight, saith Jehovah.
25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised:
Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, That I will punish all the circumcised with the uncircumcised,
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, And the sons of Ammon and Moab, And all with shaven cheeks, that dwell in the wilderness. For all the nations are uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.
