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.
How I wish my head was a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears! Then I would weep day and night over all my people who have been killed.
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.
I wish I had a temporary shelter in the desert—I would give up on my people and leave them, because they're all adulterers, a bunch of traitors!
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!
Their words are like arrows shot from a bow. Lies win out over the truth throughout the country. They go from one evil thing to the next, forgetting all about me, declares 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,
Everyone, watch out for your friends! Don't even trust your brother! Every brother is deceitful, and every friend slanders other people.
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.
Everyone betrays their friends; no one tells the truth. They've made themselves into expert liars; they tire themselves out doing wrong.
6 Your dwelling [is] in the midst of deceit, Through deceit they refused to know Me,” A declaration of YHWH.
Everyone exploits each other, and in all their lies they don't want to know me, declares 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?
So this is what the Lord Almighty says: Look, I'm going to test them and purify them like metal in a furnace. What else can I do because of what my people have done?
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 words are arrows that kill; they always tell lies. They're nice to their friends on the outside while plotting against them inside.
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?”
Shouldn't I punish them for all this? declares the Lord. Shouldn't I retaliate for what this nation has done?
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 weep and wail for the mountains, I will sing a funeral song over the pastures in the countryside, because they have been so badly burned that no one can pass through, and there are no cattle to make any noise. The birds have flown and the wild animals have run away.
11 “And I make Jerusalem become heaps, A habitation of dragons, And I make the cities of Judah a desolation, Without inhabitant.”
I'm going to make Jerusalem into a heap of rubble, a place where jackals live. I will destroy the towns of Judah, leaving them empty.
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 wise enough to understand this? Has the Lord told anyone so they can explain what's happened? Why has the land been destroyed and burned so it's like a desert, so no one can pass 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,
The Lord replied, It's because they have given up keeping my laws that I placed before them. They haven't followed them; they haven't done what I told them.
14 And they walk after the stubbornness of their heart, And after the Ba‘alim, That their fathers taught them,”
On the contrary, they have followed their own stubborn way of thinking, and went to worship the Baals, just as their forefathers taught them.
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,
So this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Watch out! I will give these people wormwood to eat and poisoned water 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.”
I'm about to scatter them among nations unfamiliar to them and their forefathers, and I will send enemies with swords to chase after them until I have wiped them out.
17 Thus said YHWH of Hosts: “Consider, and call for mourning women, And they come, And send to the wise women, And they come,
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Be aware of what's happening! Call for the professional women mourners, ask for the best of them.
18 And they hurry, and lift up a wailing for us. And tears run down our eyes, And waters flow from our eyelids.
Have them come as quickly as possible, and sing a funeral song about us, so we can cry our eyes out, so our tears will flow like streams.
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.”
The sound of weeping comes from Zion, “We're completely devastated! We're totally ashamed, because we've had to abandon our country, because our houses have been demolished.”
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.
Women, listen to the Lord's message, hear what he has to say. Teach your daughters to mourn and sing songs of sadness.
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.
Death has slipped in through our windows; it has come into our fortresses. It has killed the children playing in the streets and the young people gathering in the town squares.
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.”
Tell everyone this is what the Lord says: Dead bodies will be left where they fall like manure in the fields, lying there like stalks of freshly-cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to collect 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,
This is what the Lord says: The wise shouldn't boast about their wisdom. The strong shouldn't boast about their strength. The rich shouldn't boast about their 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.
Anyone who wants to boast should boast that they really know and understand me, recognizing that I am the Lord who acts with trustworthy love, who shows fairness, and who does what is right everywhere on earth, because these mean the most to me, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of YHWH, “And I have laid a charge on all circumcised in the foreskin,
Watch out, for the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all who are only physically circumcised.
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!”
Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the desert people who trim their hair on the sides of their heads—all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the Israelites are spiritually uncircumcised.
