Jeremiah 9

1 Who makes my head waters, And my eye a fountain of tears? And I weep by day and by night, For the wounded 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 Who gives me in a wilderness A lodging-place for travelers? And I leave my people, and go from them, For all of them [are] adulterers, An assembly of treacherous ones.

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 [is] a lie, And they have not been mighty for steadfastness in the land, For they have gone forth from evil to evil, And they have not known Me,” A declaration of YHWH!

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 “You each beware of his friend, And do not trust any brother, For every brother utterly supplants, For every friend slanderously walks,

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

5 And they each mock at his friend, And they do not speak truth, They taught their tongue to speak falsehood, They have labored to commit iniquity.

Every one will mock his friend; they will not speak truth: their tongue has learnt to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they ceased not, so as to return.

6 Your dwelling [is] in the midst of deceit, Through deceit they refused to know Me,” A declaration of YHWH.

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

7 Therefore, thus said YHWH of Hosts: “Behold, I am refining them, and have tried them, For how do I deal with 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 slaughtering arrow, It has spoken deceit in its mouth, It speaks peace with its neighbor, And in its heart it lays its ambush,

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

9 Do I not see after them for these things?” A declaration of YHWH, “Does My soul not avenge itself against a nation such 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 I lift up weeping and wailing for the mountains, And a lamentation for the habitations of the wilderness, For they have been burned up without any passing over, Nor have they heard the voice of livestock, From the bird of the heavens and to the beast—they have fled, They have 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 make Jerusalem become heaps, A habitation of dragons, And I make the cities of Judah a desolation, Without 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? And he understands this, And he to whom the mouth of YHWH spoke? And he declares it, For why has the land perished? It has been burned up as a wilderness, Without any passing 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 YHWH says: “Because of their forsaking My law that I set before them, And they have not listened to My voice nor walked in it,

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 And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Ba‘alim, That 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 said YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel: “Behold, I am causing them—this people—to eat wormwood, And I have caused them to drink water of gall,

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 And I have scattered them among nations Which they did not know, they and their fathers, And have sent the sword after them, Until I have consumed them.”

and I will scatter them amongst 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 said YHWH of Hosts: “Consider, and call for mourning women, And they come, And send to the wise women, And they 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 they hurry, and lift up a wailing for us. And tears run down our eyes, And waters flow from our eyelids.

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 from Zion: How we have been spoiled! We have been greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because they have cast down our dwelling places.”

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 But hear, you women, a word of YHWH, And your ear receives a word of His mouth, And teach your daughters wailing, And each her neighbor 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 neighbour a dirge.

21 For death has come up into our windows, It has come into our palaces, To cut off the suckling from outside, 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, “A declaration of YHWH, And the carcass of man has fallen, As dung on the face of the field, And as a handful after the reaper, And there is none gathering.”

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 said YHWH: “Do not let the wise boast himself in his wisdom, Nor let the mighty boast himself in his might, Do not let the rich boast himself 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 the boaster boast himself in this, In understanding and knowing Me, For I [am] YHWH, doing kindness, Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, For I have delighted in these,” A declaration of YHWH.

but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgement, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, says the Lord.

25 “Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin,

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

26 On Egypt, and on Judah, and on Edom, And on the sons of Ammon, and on Moab, And on all cutting the corner [of the beard], Who are dwelling in the wilderness, For all the nations [are] uncircumcised, And all the house of Israel [are] uncircumcised in 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.