Jeremiah 9

A Lament over Zion

112Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the 3daughter of my people!245Oh that I had in the desert A wayfarers’ lodging place; That I might leave my people And go from them! For all of them are 6adulterers, An assembly of 7treacherous men.3“They 8bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they 9proceed from evil to evil, And they 10do not know Me,” declares the Lord.4“Let everyone 11be on guard against his neighbor, And 12do not trust any brother; Because every 13brother deals 14craftily, And every neighbor 15goes about as a slanderer.5Everyone 16deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They 17weary themselves committing iniquity.6Your 18dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they 19refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

7Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and 20assay them; For 21what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?8Their 22tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one 23speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he 24sets an ambush for him.925Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

10“For the 26mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the 27wilderness a dirge, Because they are 28laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the 29birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.11I will make Jerusalem a 30heap of ruins, A haunt of 31jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a 32desolation, without inhabitant.”

12Who is the 33wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom 34the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? 35Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have 36forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have 37walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the 38Baals, as their 39fathers taught them,” 15therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, 40I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them 41poisoned water to drink. 16I will 42scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the 43sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the 44mourning women, that they may come; And send for the 4546wailing women, that they may come!18Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our 47eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water.19For a voice of 48wailing is heard from Zion, ‘49How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have 50left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”20Now hear the word of the Lord, O you 51women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge.21For 52death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the 53children from the streets, The young men from the town squares.22Speak, “Thus says the Lord, ‘The corpses of men will fall 54like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’”

23Thus says the Lord, “55Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the 56mighty man boast of his might, let not a 57rich man boast of his riches; 24but let him who boasts 58boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who 59exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I 60delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

25“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet 61uncircumcised-- 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and 62all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are 63uncircumcised of heart.”