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 provide water for my head, and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day and night 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 will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of transgressors.

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, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one evil to another. But they 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,

Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.

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.

And a man will deride his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they have labored to commit iniquity.

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

Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they have refused to 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?

Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them, and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face 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; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.

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 upon them concerning these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?

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.

I will take up weeping and lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched because no man is passing through them. And they have not heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air, even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.

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 make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.

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 who understands this, and to whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and has been scorched like a desert, so much 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: “It is because they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.

14 And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Ba‘alim, That their fathers taught them,”

And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”

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,

For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I will give them the water of gall to drink.

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 disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until they are consumed.”

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 of hosts, the God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.

18 And they hurry, and lift up a wailing for us. And tears run down our eyes, And waters flow from our eyelids.

‘Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with 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 from Zion: ‘How is it that we have been devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.’”

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.

“Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord! And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her neighbor to mourn:

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 climbed through our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little children from the outdoors, the youths 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.”

“Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to gather it.”

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: “The wise man should not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his riches.

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 he who glories should glory in this: to know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth. For these things are pleasing to me, 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 are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:

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!”

upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”