JeremiahChapter 9

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¹Oh, I wish my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
Then I would weep day and night
for my dear people who have been killed. ²I wish I had a travelers' shelter in the wilderness!
Then I would leave my people and go away from them.
For all of them are adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people. ³"They bend their tongues like bows.
Lies are stronger than truth in the land.
They go from one evil thing to another.
They do not even think about me," declares the LORD. ⁴"Each of you, watch out for your neighbor.
Do not trust any brother.
For every brother is a cheater,
and every friend spreads lies about others. ⁵Each one tricks his friend.
No one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie.
They wear themselves out doing wrong. ⁶You live in the middle of lies.
In their lying they refuse to know me," declares the LORD. ⁷So this is what the LORD of Hosts says:
"Look, I will melt them down and test them.
What else can I do
because of my dear people? ⁸Their tongues are deadly arrows.
They speak lies.
A man speaks kindly to his neighbor with his mouth,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him. ⁹Shouldn't I punish them for these things?
declares the LORD.
Shouldn't I pay back a nation like this?" ¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains.
I will sing a sad song for the wilderness pastures.
They are burned up so that no one passes through.
The mooing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the sky and the animals
have all run away and are gone. ¹¹"I will make Jerusalem a pile of rubble,
a home for jackals.
I will make the cities of Judah a wasteland
where no one lives." ¹²Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has heard the LORD speak, so he can explain it? Why has the land been ruined? Why is it burned up like a desert so that no one can travel through it? ¹³The LORD answered, "It is because they have turned away from my law that I gave them. They have not lived by it or obeyed my voice. ¹⁴Instead, they have followed their own stubborn hearts. They have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them." ¹⁵So this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I will feed these people bitter wormwood. I will give them poisoned water to drink. ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known. I will send the sword after them until I have destroyed them." ¹⁷This is what the LORD of Hosts says:
"Think about this!
Call for the women who wail at funerals.
Send for the most skillful of them. ¹⁸Let them come quickly
and sing a sad song over us.
Then our eyes will overflow with tears,
and water will pour from our eyelids. ¹⁹For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
'How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We have left the land,
for our homes have been torn down.'" ²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD.
Open your ears to what his mouth says.
Teach your daughters how to wail.
Teach one another to sing sad songs. ²¹For death has climbed in through our windows.
It has come into our strong towers.
It takes the children from the streets
and the young men from the town squares. ²²Say that this is what the LORD says:
"Dead bodies will fall like dung on the open field.
They will fall like freshly cut grain behind the harvester,
with no one to gather them." ²³This is what the LORD says:
"Do not let the wise man brag about his wisdom.
Do not let the strong man brag about his strength.
Do not let the rich man brag about his riches. ²⁴But if anyone wants to brag, let him brag about this:
that he understands and knows me.
Let him know that I am the LORD.
I show faithful love, justice, and what is right on the earth.
For these are the things I delight in," declares the LORD. ²⁵"Look, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the body: ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who live in the desert and cut the hair at the sides of their heads. For all these nations are uncircumcised. And the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."