Jeremiah 9:2-10

2If only I had a traveler’s lodging place in the wilderness, I would abandon my people and depart from them, for they are all adulterers, a solemn assembly of treacherous people.

3They bent their tongues like their bows; lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land, for they proceed from one evil to another, and they do not take me into account. This is the Lord’s declaration.

4Everyone has to be on guard against his friend. Don’t trust any brother, for every brother will certainly deceive, and every friend spread slander.

5Each one betrays his friend; no one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they wear themselves out doing wrong.

6You live in a world of deception. In their deception they refuse to know me. This is the Lord’s declaration.

7Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says: I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do because of my dear people?

8Their tongues are deadly arrows — they speak deception. With his mouth one speaks peaceably with his friend, but inwardly he sets up an ambush.

9Should I not punish them for these things? This is the Lord’s declaration. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

10I will raise weeping and a lament over the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness grazing land, for they have been so scorched that no one passes through. The sound of cattle is no longer heard. From the birds of the sky to the animals, everything has fled — they have gone away.