Jeremiah 9:9-26

91Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?

10“For the 2mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the 3wilderness a dirge, Because they are 4laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the 5birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.11I will make Jerusalem a 6heap of ruins, A haunt of 7jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a 8desolation, without inhabitant.”

12Who is the 9wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom 10the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? 11Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have 12forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have 13walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the 14Baals, as their 15fathers taught them,” 15therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, 16I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them 17poisoned water to drink. 16I will 18scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the 19sword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the 20mourning women, that they may come; And send for the 2122wailing women, that they may come!18Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our 23eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water.19For a voice of 24wailing is heard from Zion, ‘25How are we ruined! We are put to great shame, For we have 26left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”20Now hear the word of the Lord, O you 27women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge.21For 28death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To cut off the 29children from the streets, The young men from the town squares.22Speak, “Thus says the Lord, ‘The corpses of men will fall 30like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’”

23Thus says the Lord, “31Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the 32mighty man boast of his might, let not a 33rich man boast of his riches; 24but let him who boasts 34boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who 35exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I 36delight 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 37uncircumcised-- 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and 38all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are 39uncircumcised of heart.”