Jeremiah 9

Grief over Zion

112Oh, that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For those slain of the 3daughter of my people!245Oh that I had in the desert A travelers’ lodging place; So that I might leave my people And go away from them! For all of them are 6adulterers, An assembly of 7treacherous people.3“They 8bend their tongues like their bows; 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 utterly 14betrays, 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 wrongdoing.6Your 18dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they 19refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

7Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says: “Behold, I will refine them and 20put them to the test; 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. “Shall I not avenge Myself On a nation such as this?

10“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the 26mountains, And for the pastures of the 27wilderness a song of mourning, Because they are 28laid waste so that no one passes through, And the sound of the livestock is not heard; Both the 29birds of the sky and the animals 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 person who 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 destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? 13The Lord said, “Because they have 36abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have 37followed the stubbornness of their heart and the 38Baals, 39as their 40fathers taught them,” 15therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, 41I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them 42poisoned water to drink. 16I will also 43scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the 44sword after them until I have put an end to them.”

17This is what the Lord of armies says: “Consider and call for the 45mourning women, that they may come; And send for the 4647skillful women, that they may come!18Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us, So that our 48eyes may shed tears, And our eyelids flow with water.19For a voice of 49wailing is heard from Zion: ‘50How devastated we are! We are put to great shame, For we have 51abandoned the land Because they have torn down our homes.’”20Now hear the word of the Lord, you 52women, And let your ears receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.21For 53death has come up through our windows; It has entered our palaces To eliminate the 54children from the streets, The young men from the public squares.22Speak, “This is what the Lord says: ‘The corpses of people will fall 55like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.’”

23This is what the Lord says: “56Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the 57mighty man boast of his might, nor a 58rich man boast of his riches; 24but let the one who boasts 59boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who 60exercises 61mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I 62delight 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 63uncircumcised-- 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and 64all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are 65uncircumcised of heart.”