Jeremiah 9

1 “Who will provide water for my head, and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.

If only my head could produce water, and my eyes be a fountain of tears! For I wish to weep day and night for those among the daughter of my people who have been killed.

2 Who will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of transgressors.

If only someone would give me a place for travelers in the wilderness to stay, where I could go to abandon my people. If only I could leave them, since all of them are adulterers, a band of traitors!

3 And they have bent their tongue, like a bow, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one evil to another. But they have not known me, says the Lord.

Yahweh declares, “They tread on their bows of lies with their tongues, but it is not because of any faithfulness of theirs that they grow strong on the earth. They go from one wicked act to another. They do not know me.”

4 Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.

Each of you, be on guard against your neighbor and do not trust in any brother. For every brother is certainly a deceiver, and every neighbor walks in slander.

5 And a man will deride his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they have labored to commit iniquity.

Each man mocks his neighbor and does not speak the truth. Their tongues teach deceitful things. They are exhausted from committing iniquity.

6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they have refused to know me, says the Lord.”

Your dwelling is in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me—this is Yahweh's declaration.”

7 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them, and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face of the daughter of my people?

Yahweh of hosts says this, “See, I am about to refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of what my people have done?

8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.

Their tongues are sharpened arrows; they speak unfaithful things. With their mouths they proclaim peace with their neighbors, but with their hearts they lie in wait for them.

9 Shall I not visit upon them concerning these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?

Should I not punish them because of these things—this is Yahweh's declaration— and should I not avenge myself on a nation that is like this?

10 I will take up weeping and lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched because no man is passing through them. And they have not heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air, even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.

I will sing a song of mourning and wailing for the mountains, and a funeral song will be sung for the meadows. For they are burned so no one can pass through them. They will not hear the sound of any cattle. The birds of the skies and the animals have all fled away.

11 And I will make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.

So I will turn Jerusalem into piles of ruins, a hideout for jackals. I will make Judah's cities ruined places without inhabitants.”

12 Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and has been scorched like a desert, so much so that no one passes through it?”

What man is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, and he will declare it? Why has the land perished and been destroyed like the wilderness that no one can pass through?

13 And the Lord said: “It is because they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.

Yahweh says, “It is because they have abandoned my law that I set before them, because they do not listen to my voice or walk by it.

14 And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”

It is because they have walked by their stubborn hearts and have followed the Baals as their fathers taught them to do.

15 For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I will give them the water of gall to drink.

Therefore Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, says this, 'See, I am about to make this people eat wormwood and drink poisonous water.

16 And I will disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until they are consumed.”

Then I will scatter them among the nations that they have not known, neither they nor their ancestors. I will send out a sword after them until I have completely destroyed them.'”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.

Yahweh of hosts says this, “Think about this: Summon funeral singers; let them come. Send out for women skilled at lamenting; let them come.

18 ‘Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with water.’

Let them hurry and sing a mournful song over us, so our eyes may run with tears and our eyelids flow with water.

19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion: ‘How is it that we have been devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.’”

For the sound of wailing is heard in Zion, 'How we are devastated. We are greatly ashamed, for we have abandoned the land since they tore down our houses.'

20 “Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord! And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her neighbor to mourn:

So you women, hear Yahweh's word; pay attention to the messages that come from his mouth. Then teach your daughters a mourning song, and each neighbor woman a funeral song.

21 ‘For death has climbed through our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little children from the outdoors, the youths from the streets.’”

For death has come through our windows; it goes into our palaces. It destroys children from outside, and young men in the city squares.

22 “Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to gather it.”

Declare this, 'This is Yahweh's declaration—the corpses of men will fall like dung in the fields, and like grain stalks after the reapers, and there will be no one to gather them.'”

23 Thus says the Lord: “The wise man should not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his riches.

Yahweh says this, “Do not let the wise man take pride in his wisdom, or the warrior in his might. Do not let the wealthy man take pride in his riches.

24 But he who glories should glory in this: to know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth. For these things are pleasing to me, says the Lord.

For if a man takes pride in anything, let it be in this, that he has insight and knows me. For I am Yahweh, who acts with covenant loyalty, justice and righteousness on earth. For it is in these that I take pleasure —this is Yahweh's declaration.”

25 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:

“See, days are coming—this is Yahweh's declaration—when I will punish all the circumcised who are such only in their body.

26 upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

I will punish Egypt and Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all the people who cut the hair on their heads very short. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel has an uncircumcised heart.”