Jeremiah 9

1 Oh 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!

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.

2 Oh that I were in the wilderness, in a lodging-place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

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.

3 And they bend their tongue, their bow of falsehood; and they are grown mighty in the land, but not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and Me they know not, saith the LORD.

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, says the Lord.

4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother acteth subtly, and every neighbour goeth about with slanders.

Beware you each of his neighbor, and trust you not in your brethren: for every one will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.

5 And they deceive every one his neighbour, and truth they speak not; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, they weary themselves to commit iniquity.

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.

6 Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me, saith the LORD.

[There is] usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know me, says the Lord.

7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts: Behold, I will smelt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of My people?

Therefore thus says 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.

8 Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, it speaketh deceit; one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him.

Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful: [one] speaks peaceably to his neighbor, but in himself retains enmity.

9 Shall I not punish them for these things? saith the LORD; Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a people as this?

10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through. And they hear not the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled, and gone.

Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate for lack of men; they heard not the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle: they were amazed, they are gone.

11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a lair of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without an inhabitant.

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.

12 Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore is the land perished and laid waste like a wilderness, so that none passeth through?

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 therefore the land has been destroyed, has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.

13 And the LORD saith: Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not hearkened to My voice, neither walked therein;

And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not listened to my voice;

14 But have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them.

but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them [to worship]:

15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:

16 I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them.

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.

17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the wise women, that they may come;

Thus says the Lord, Call you the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;

18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.

19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion: 'How are we undone! We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out.'

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!

20 Yea, hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation:

Hear now, you women, the word of God, and let your ears receive the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and [every] woman her neighbor a dirge.

21 'For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from the street, and the young men from the broad places. —

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.

22 Speak: Thus saith the LORD — And the carcasses of men fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, which none gathereth.'

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].

23 Thus saith the LORD: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches;

Thus says 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;

24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth, and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD who exercise mercy, justice, and righteousness, in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

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, says the Lord.

25 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision:

Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;

26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair polled, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.

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.