Jeremiah

Jeremiah 9 ©

1 The prophet bewaileth the manifold sins of his people, 9 and the judgments coming upon them: 12 he sheweth that disobedience is the cause of their calamity: 17 he exhorteth them to lament over their desolation; 23 and not to trust in human abilities, but in knowing God: 25 he threateneth the Jews and their neighbours.

1

1OH athat my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of bthe daughter of my people!

2

cOh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

3

And dthey bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but ethey are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they fproceed from evil to evil, and they gknow not me, saith the LORD.

4

hTake ye heed every one of his 2neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: ifor every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour jwill walk with slanders.

5

And kthey will 3deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and lweary themselves to commit iniquity.

6

mThine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they nrefuse to know me, saith the LORD.

7

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, oBehold, I will melt them, and try them; pfor how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

8

Their qtongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one rspeaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but 4in heart he layeth 5his wait.

9

sShall I not visit them for these things ? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

10

tFor the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the 6habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are 7burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; 8both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

11

And I uwill make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of *dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah 9desolate, without an inhabitant.

12

¶Who is vthe wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may wdeclare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

13

And the LORD saith, xBecause they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

14

But have walked after the 10imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, ywhich their fathers taught them:

15

zTherefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, aI will feed them, even this people, with *wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

16

I will bscatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.

17

¶Thus saith the LORD of hosts, cConsider ye, and call for the dmourning women, that they may come; and send for *cunning women, that they may come:

18

And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

19

For ea voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have fcast us out.

20

Yet hear the word of the LORD, gO ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, hand teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

21

For ideath is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children jfrom *without, and the young men from the streets.

22

Speak, Thus saith the LORD, kEven the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as lthe handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

23

¶Thus saith the LORD, mLet not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

24

But nlet him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which oexercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things pI delight, saith the LORD.

25

¶Behold, qthe days come, saith the LORD, that rI will 11punish all them which are scircumcised with the uncircumcised;

r Ro. 2.8,9.
26

tEgypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are 12in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uuncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.