Jeremias 9
1 Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? then would I weep for this my people day and night, [even] for the slain of the daughter of my people.
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.
2 Who would give me a most distant lodge in the wilderness, that I might leave my people, and depart from them? for they all commit adultery, an assembly of treacherous men.
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.
3 And they have bent their tongue like a bow: falsehood and not faithfulness has prevailed upon the earth; for they have gone on from evil to evil, and have not known me, saith the Lord.
“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,”
4 Beware ye each of his neighbour, and trust ye not in your brethren: for every one will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.
“Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
5 Every one will mock his friend; they will not speak truth: their tongue has learned to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they ceased not, so as to return.
Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they wear themselves out committing iniquity.
6 [There is] usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know me, saith the Lord.
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,”
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will try them with fire, and prove them; for I will do [thus] because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.
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?
8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful: [one] speaks peaceably to his neighbour, but in himself retains enmity.
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.
9 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a people as this?
Should I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD. Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?”
10 Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate for want of men; they heard not the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle: they were amazed, they are gone.
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.
11 And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling-place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Juda, so that they shall not be inhabited.
“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.”
12 Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and he that has the word of the mouth of the Lord [addressed] to him, let him tell you wherefore the land has been destroyed, has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.
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?
13 And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not hearkened to my voice;
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.
14 but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them [to worship]:
Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts and gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”
15 therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:
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.
16 and I will scatter them among the nations, to them whom neither they nor their fathers knew; and I will send a sword upon them, until I have consumed them with it.
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.”
17 Thus saith the Lord, Call ye the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
18 and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.
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.
19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard in Sion, How are we become wretched! we are greatly ashamed, for we have forsaken the land, and have abandoned our tabernacles!
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.’”
20 Hear now, ye women, the word of God, and let your ears receive the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and [every] woman her neighbour a dirge.
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.
21 For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants without, and the young men from the streets.
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.
22 And the carcases of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather [them].
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.”
23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth;
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.
24 but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, saith the Lord.
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,”
25 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised yet uncircumcised:
26 on Egypt, and on Idumea, and on Edom, and on the children of Ammon, and on the children of Moab, and on every one that shaves his face round about, [even] them that dwell in the wilderness; for all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised [in] their hearts.
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.”
