Jeremiah 9
1 I wish that my head was [like] [MET] a spring of water, and that my eyes were [like] a fountain of tears. Then I would cry night and day for all of my people who have been killed [by our enemies].
| מי יתן ראשי מים ועיני מקור דמעה ואבכה יומם ולילה את חללי בת עמי׃ |
2 I wish that I could leave my people and forget them, and go and live in a shack/shelter in the desert, because they have not remained faithful [MET] [to Yahweh]; they are a mob of people who deceive others.
| מי יתנני במדבר מלון ארחים ואעזבה את עמי ואלכה מאתם כי כלם מנאפים עצרת בגדים׃ |
3 [Yahweh replied to me], “They use their tongues [to tell] [MET] lies like people shoot [arrows] with bows. It is because they tell lies that they have become more powerful in this land, and they do not know me.
| וידרכו את לשונם קשתם שקר ולא לאמונה גברו בארץ כי מרעה אל רעה יצאו ואתי לא ידעו נאם יהוה׃ |
4 Do not trust your neighbors and [even] your brothers! They all are as deceitful [as Jacob was]. They slander [each other] and tell lies [about each other].
| איש מרעהו השמרו ועל כל אח אל תבטחו כי כל אח עקוב יעקב וכל רע רכיל יהלך׃ |
5 They deceive their friends and never tell the truth. They lie continually and, because of that, they have become skilled liars; they do one oppressive thing after another, and are unable to stop doing it.
| ואיש ברעהו יהתלו ואמת לא ידברו למדו לשונם דבר שקר העוה נלאו׃ |
6 They habitually lie and deceive [each other], and no one will admit/say that I am God.
| שבתך בתוך מרמה במרמה מאנו דעת אותי נאם יהוה׃ |
7 Therefore [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, say this: Listen carefully to what I say: I will [cause my people to experience great afflictions, ] [like a metalworker puts metal in a hot fire] [MET] to completely burn out the impure bits. Because of all [the evil things] that my people have done, there is absolutely nothing else [RHQ] that I can do.
| לכן כה אמר יהוה צבאות הנני צורפם ובחנתים כי איך אעשה מפני בת עמי׃ |
8 What they say [MTY] [injures people like] [MET] poisoned arrows do. They say to their neighbors, ‘I hope things will go well for you,’ while they are planning to kill them.
| חץ שוחט לשונם מרמה דבר בפיו שלום את רעהו ידבר ובקרבו ישים ארבו׃ |
9 Should I not punish them for doing that [RHQ]? Yes, I should certainly (get revenge on/give what they deserve to) [the people of] a nation that does things like that!”
| העל אלה לא אפקד בם נאם יהוה אם בגוי אשר כזה לא תתנקם נפשי׃ |
10 So, I will weep and wail for [the people who live in] the mountains and in the (pastures/places where the livestock eat the grass), because those areas will be desolate, and no one will live there. There will be no cattle there to call to each other, and all the birds and wild animals will have fled [to other places].
| על ההרים אשא בכי ונהי ועל נאות מדבר קינה כי נצתו מבלי איש עבר ולא שמעו קול מקנה מעוף השמים ועד בהמה נדדו הלכו׃ |
11 [Yahweh also says], “I will cause Jerusalem to become a heap of ruins, and [only] jackals/wolves will live there. I will destroy the towns of Judah, with the result that they will be completely deserted; no one will live there.”
| ונתתי את ירושלם לגלים מעון תנים ואת ערי יהודה אתן שממה מבלי יושב׃ |
12 [I said], “Only people who are very wise [RHQ] can understand these things. Only those who have been taught by Yahweh can [RHQ] explain these things to others. The wise people are [RHQ] the only ones who can explain why the land will be completely ruined with the result that everyone [RHQ] will be afraid to travel through it.”
| מי האיש החכם ויבן את זאת ואשר דבר פי יהוה אליו ויגדה על מה אבדה הארץ נצתה כמדבר מבלי עבר׃ |
13 Yahweh replied, “[These things will happen] because my people have rejected my laws which I gave to them; they have not obeyed me or my instructions.
| ויאמר יהוה על עזבם את תורתי אשר נתתי לפניהם ולא שמעו בקולי ולא הלכו בה׃ |
14 Instead, they have stubbornly done the things that they wanted to do. They have worshiped the idols that represent the god Baal, which is what their ancestors did.
| וילכו אחרי שררות לבם ואחרי הבעלים אשר למדום אבותם׃ |
15 So now listen to what [I], the Commander of the armies of angels, the God of the Israelis, say: [What I will do will be like] [MET] giving these people bitter things to eat and poison to drink:
| לכן כה אמר יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל הנני מאכילם את העם הזה לענה והשקיתים מי ראש׃ |
16 I will scatter them to many nations which neither they nor their ancestors have known [anything about]; I will [enable their enemies to] strike them with swords until I have destroyed them.”
| והפצותים בגוים אשר לא ידעו המה ואבותם ושלחתי אחריהם את החרב עד כלותי אותם׃ |
17 This is also what the Commander of the armies of angels says: “Think [about what is happening], [then] summon those women who mourn [when someone has died].
| כה אמר יהוה צבאות התבוננו וקראו למקוננות ותבואינה ואל החכמות שלחו ותבואנה׃ |
18 Tell them to come quickly and start to wail, with the result that tears will stream down from your(pl) eyes.
| ותמהרנה ותשנה עלינו נהי ותרדנה עינינו דמעה ועפעפינו יזלו מים׃ |
19 Listen to [the people of] Jerusalem crying/lamenting, saying, ‘We have been ruined/destroyed! We have experienced a terrible disaster! Now we are very ashamed, because our houses have been destroyed [by our enemies], and we [are being forced to] leave our land.’”
| כי קול נהי נשמע מציון איך שדדנו בשנו מאד כי עזבנו ארץ כי השליכו משכנותינו׃ |
20 You women, listen to what Yahweh says [MTY]. Pay attention to his words [DOU]. Teach your daughters to wail. Teach each other how to sing funeral songs,
| כי שמענה נשים דבר יהוה ותקח אזנכם דבר פיו ולמדנה בנותיכם נהי ואשה רעותה קינה׃ |
21 because people will be dying [PRS] in your houses and in palaces. There will be no more children playing in the streets, there will be no more young men [gathering] in the city squares/marketplaces.
| כי עלה מות בחלונינו בא בארמנותינו להכרית עולל מחוץ בחורים מרחבות׃ |
22 There will be corpses scattered across the fields like dung; their dead bodies will lie there like [SIM] grain that has been cut by reapers/farmers, and there will be no one [still alive] to bury them.
| דבר כה נאם יהוה ונפלה נבלת האדם כדמן על פני השדה וכעמיר מאחרי הקצר ואין מאסף׃ |
23 Yahweh says this: “Wise men should not boast about their being wise, strong men should not boast about their being strong; and rich people should not boast about their being rich.
| כה אמר יהוה אל יתהלל חכם בחכמתו ואל יתהלל הגבור בגבורתו אל יתהלל עשיר בעשרו׃ |
24 Instead, those who want to boast should boast about their knowing me and about understanding that I am Yahweh, that I am kind and just and righteous, that I faithfully love [people], and that I am delighted with [people who act] that way.
| כי אם בזאת יתהלל המתהלל השכל וידע אותי כי אני יהוה עשה חסד משפט וצדקה בארץ כי באלה חפצתי נאם יהוה׃ |
25 There will be a time when I will punish all those people of Egypt and of the Moab people-group and of the Edom [people-group] and of the Ammon [people-group], all those people who live close to desert areas (OR, who cut their hair short [to please their gods]) far from Judah, all those people who have [changed their bodies by] circumcising them [MET] but who have not [changed] their inner beings. I will punish the people of Judah also, because they have not changed their inner beings, [either].”
| הנה ימים באים נאם יהוה ופקדתי על כל מול בערלה׃ |
| על מצרים ועל יהודה ועל אדום ועל בני עמון ועל מואב ועל כל קצוצי פאה הישבים במדבר כי כל הגוים ערלים וכל בית ישראל ערלי לב׃ |
