Jeremiah

Jeremiah 9

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

1¹OH ^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!

a Is. 22.4. ch. 4.19; 14.17; 13.17. La. 1.2,16,20; 2.10,11,18,19; 3.48,49. Eze. 21.6,7,12,14; 5-7; 9. b ch. 8.19,21,22.

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.

c Ps. 55.4-11; 120.5,6. Mi. 7.1-6. ch. 5.7,8. Ho. 7.4; 6.9; 4.1,2. Eze. 22.4-12.

3And ^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.

d Ps. 120.2; 52.2-4; 64.3,4. v.8. Is. 59.3,4,13-15. Mi. 7.2,4,5. Jude 3. e ch. 7.28. f ch. 7.26. 2Ti. 3.13. Ps. 69.27. g ch. 4.22. Ju. 2.10. 1Sa. 2.12. Ho. 4.1-3,6.

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.

h ch. 12.6. Mi. 7.5,6. i Ge. 27.36. 1Th. 4.6. j ch. 6.28. Le. 19.16. Eze. 22.9.

5And ^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.

k Mi. 7.2,4. Is. 59.3,4,13-15. ch. 13.23. v.8. Ps. 55.21. l Ps. 7.14. Is. 5.11,18. Pr. 4.16. Eze. 24.12.

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

m v.2-5. Mi. 7.1-6. Ps. 55.11,21; 120.5,6; 109.2. n Pr. 1.4. Ho. 11.2,7; 4.1,2,6. Job 21.14,15. Jn. 5.40.

7Therefore 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?

o ch. 6.29,30. Is. 1.24,25; 48.10. Mal. 3.3; 4.1. Eze. 21.13; 22.17-22. Zec. 13.9. p 2Ch. 36.15,16. Is. 5.4,5. Ho. 6.4,5; 11.8. ch. 3.19.

8Their ^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.

q v.3. Ps. 140.3; 64.3,4; 57.4; 55.21; 12.2; 109.2,3; 120.2,3. Pr. 30.14. r Ps. 28.3. 2Sa. 3.27; 20.9. Ps. 5.9; 55.21. Pr. 26.24-26.

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

s ch. 5.9,29. Eze. 5-9; 16; 20-24. Mi. 1-3; 6; 7. Is. 1; 5; 59.

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.

t ch. 4.23-26; 12.4; 23.10. Ho. 4.3. Joel 1.19; 2.22. Is. 42.25. ch. 14.1-6.

11And I ^uwill make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of ^*dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah ⁹desolate, without an inhabitant.

u La. 2.2,7,8. Is. 25.2. ch. 17.27; 21.8; 34.22; 10.22; 51.37. Is. 13.22; 34.13. Ps. 44.19.

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?

v Ps. 107.43. Ho. 14.9. Is. 42.23; 28.9-13; 29.11. De. 32.29. ch. 6.10. w ch. 2.17,19; 4.18. v.13-16. Is. 3.11; 1-3; 5; 8; 9; 24. Eze. 5-9; 14-24.

13And the LORD saith, ^xBecause they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

x Le. 26.14-39. De. 28.15-68; 29.24-28; 31.16,17; 32.15-26. Ju. 2.11-20. 2Ki. 17.7-23; 16; 21. Is. 1-3; 5; 9; 24; 58; 59. ch. 2-23. Eze. 5-8; 13-24. Mi. 1-3; 6; 7. 1Pe. 1.18. Zep. 3.1-6.

14But have walked after the ¹⁰imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, ^ywhich their fathers taught them:

y Ga. 1.14.

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.

z ch. 5.19; 15.6; 16.10,11; 22.8,9; 2.17,19; 4.18; 6.19. Is. 3.11. a ch. 8.14; 23.15. La. 3.15,19. Ps. 80.5; 60.3; 75.8. Is. 51.17,22. ch. 25.15-18. La. 1-5.

16I 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.

b Le. 26.33,38,39. De. 4.27; 28.25,36,63-68. ch. 15.1-4,7. Eze. 5.12. Mi. 4.10.

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:

c ch. 2.10. Hag. 1.7. La. 3.40. De. 32.29. d 2Ch. 35.25. Job 3.8. Am. 5.16. Ec. 12.5. Mat. 9.23. ch. 22.18; 48.17. Eze. 27.31. Re. 18.9-19.

18And 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.

19For ^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.

e Is. 22.4; 24.4,12. ch. 4.13,19-29; 14.17; 6.26. La. 1-5. Eze. 7.2-18. Mi. 1.8,9. Hab. 3.16. f Le. 18.28; 20.22. Is. 6.12. La. 1.1,3; 4.15. ch. 15.4.

20Yet 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.

g Is. 3.16; 32.9-13. h La. 1.12; 2.13. Am. 5.16.

21For 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.

i 2Ch. 36.17. Is. 24.18. ch. 6.11; 15.2,3; 16.3,4,6. Eze. 21.14; 9.5,6. j Pr. 5.16.

22Speak, 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.

k ch. 8.2; 7.33; 16.4; 34.20. Ps. 83.10; 79.2,3. l Le. 23.10.

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:

m Ps. 33.16,17. Pr. 11.4. Ec. 9.11. Is. 28.17; 30.3; 31.2,3. Eze. 7.19. Am. 2.14-16. 1Co. 1.31. 2Co. 10.17.

24But 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.

n 1Co. 1.31. 2Co. 10.17. Ps. 20.7; 91.14. 1Jn. 5.20. o Ex. 34.6,7. Ps. 25.10. Mi. 7.18,19. p Ps. 5.4; 11.5,7; 15.2-4; 99.4. Is. 33.15,16; 61.8. Mi. 6.8.

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

q Is. 2.6-21; 24; 34. r Ro. 2.8,9. s Ge. 34.14. Ac. 11.2,3. Ro. 3.1,29,30. Col. 3.11.

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.

t ch. 25.9-26; 27.3-7; 46-52. Is. 1-34. Eze. 5-32; 35. Mi. 1-7. Am. 1-9. Zep. 1-3. u ch. 4.4. Le. 26.41. Ro. 2.25,28,29. Eze. 44.7,9. De. 10.16; 29.4.