Jeremiah 9

1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.

2 Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.

3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

4 “Beware of your friends;
do not trust your brothers.
For every brother is a deceiver,
and every friend a slanderer.

5 Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.

6 You live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?

8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks with deceit.
With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor,
but in his heart he sets a trap for him.

9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”

10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the desert pastures.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds of the air have fled
and the animals are gone.

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”

12 What man is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.”15 Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.

16 I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them.”

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.

18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.

19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’ ”

20 Now, O women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.

21 Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has cut off the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.

22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“ ‘The dead bodies of men will lie
like refuse on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’ ”

23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,

24 but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—

26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”

JEREMIAH 9

1 I wish that my eyes
were fountains of tears,
so I could cry day and night
for my people
who were killed.

2 I wish I could go into the desert
and find a hiding place
from all who are treacherous
and unfaithful to God.

The [Lord] Answers Jeremiah

3 The [Lord] replied:
Lies come from the mouths
of my people,
like arrows from a bow.
With each dishonest deed
their power increases,
and not one of them will admit
that I am God.

4 Jeremiah, all your friends
and relatives
tell lies about you,
so don't trust them.

5 They wear themselves out,
always looking for a new way
to cheat their friends.

6 Everyone takes advantage
of everyone else,
and no one will admit
that I am God.

7 And so I will purify
the hearts of my people
just as gold is purified
in a furnace.
I have no other choice.

8 They say they want peace,
but this lie is deadly,
like an arrow that strikes
when you least expect it.

9 Give me one good reason
not to punish them
as they deserve.
I, the [Lord] All-Powerful,
have spoken.

Jeremiah Weeps //for His People

10 I weep for the pastureland
in the hill country.
It's so barren and scorched
that no one travels there.
No cattle can be found there,
and birds and wild animals
have all disappeared.

11 I heard the [Lord] reply,
“When I am finished,
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah
will be piles of ruins
where only jackalst live.”

Why the Land //Was Destroyed

12 I said to the [Lord], “None of us can understand why the land has become like an uncrossable desert. Won't you explain why?”

13 The [Lord] said:
I destroyed the land because the people disobeyed me and rejected my laws and teachings. 14 They were stubborn and worshiped Baal, t just as their ancestors did. 15 So I, the [Lord] All-Powerful, the God of Israel, promise them poison to eat and drink.t

16 I'll scatter them in foreign countries that they and their ancestors have never even heard of. Finally, I will send enemy soldiers to kill every last one of them.

The Women Who Are Paid //To Weep

17 The [Lord] All-Powerful said,
“Make arrangements now
for the women who are paid
to weep at funerals, t
especially the women
who can cry the loudest.”

18 The people answered,
“Let them come quickly
and cry for us,
until our own eyes
are flooded with tears.

19 Now those of us on Zion cry,
‘We are ruined!
We can't stand the shame.
Our homes have been destroyed,
and we must leave our land.’

20 “We ask you women
to pay attention
to what the [Lord] says.
We will teach you a funeral song
that you can teach
your daughters and friends:

21 ‘We were in our fortress,
but death sneaked in
through our windows.
It even struck down
children at play
and our strongest young men.’

22 “The [Lord] has told us
the ground will be covered
with dead bodies,
like ungathered stalks of grain
or manure in a field.”

What the [Lord] Likes Best

23 The [Lord] says:
Don't brag about your wisdom
or strength or wealth.

24  t If you feel you must brag,
then have enough sense
to brag about worshiping me,
the [Lord].
What I like best
is showing kindness,
justice, and mercy
to everyone on earth.
25-26 Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert.t The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don't worship me. And it's the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged.