Jeremiah 9:1–10:25

Oh, that my head were a spring of water

and my eyes a fountain of tears!g

I would weeph day and night

for the slain of my people.i

2 Oh, that I had in the desertj

a lodging place for travelers,

so that I might leave my people

and go away from them;

for they are all adulterers,k

a crowd of unfaithfull people.

3 “They make ready their tongue

like a bow, to shoot lies;m

it is not by truth

that they triumphb in the land.

They go from one sin to another;

they do not acknowledgen me,”

declares the Lord.

4 “Beware of your friends;o

do not trust anyone in your clan.p

For every one of them is a deceiver,c q

and every friend a slanderer.r

5 Friend deceives friend,s

and no one speaks the truth.t

They have taught their tongues to lie;u

they weary themselves with sinning.

6 Youd live in the midst of deception;v

in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”

declares the Lord.

7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refinew and testx them,

for what else can I do

because of the sin of my people?

8 Their tonguey is a deadly arrow;

it speaks deceitfully.

With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,z

but in their hearts they set trapsa for them.b

9 Should I not punish them for this?”

declares the Lord.

“Should I not avengec myself

on such a nation as this?”

10 I will weep and wail for the mountains

and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.d

They are desolate and untraveled,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard.

The birdse have all fled

and the animals are gone.

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heapf of ruins,

a haunt of jackals;g

and I will lay waste the towns of Judahh

so no one can live there.”i

12 Who is wisej 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.k 14 Instead, they have followedl the stubbornness of their hearts;m they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter foodn and drink poisoned water.o 16 I will scatter them among nationsp that neither they nor their ancestors have known,q and I will pursue them with the swordr until I have made an end of them.”s

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing woment 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.u

19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

‘How ruinedv we are!

How great is our shame!

We must leave our land

because our houses are in ruins.’ ”

20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;

open your ears to the words of his mouth.w

Teach your daughters how to wail;

teach one another a lament.x

21 Death has climbed in through our windowsy

and has entered our fortresses;

it has removed the children from the streets

and the young menz from the public squares.

22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“ ‘Dead bodies will lie

like dunga 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 boast of their wisdomb

or the strong boast of their strengthc

or the rich boast of their riches,d

24 but let the one who boasts boaste about this:

that they have the understanding to knowf me,

that I am the Lord,g who exercises kindness,h

justice and righteousnessi 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 fleshj—26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.e k For all these nations are really uncircumcised,l and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.m”

God and Idols

10:12–16pp—Jer 51:15–19

10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nationsn

or be terrified by signso in the heavens,

though the nations are terrified by them.

3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;

they cut a tree out of the forest,

and a craftsmanp shapes it with his chisel.q

4 They adorn it with silverr and gold;

they fasten it with hammer and nails

so it will not totter.s

5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,

their idols cannot speak;t

they must be carried

because they cannot walk.u

Do not fear them;

they can do no harmv

nor can they do any good.”w

6 No one is like you,x Lord;

you are great,y

and your name is mighty in power.

7 Who should not fearz you,

King of the nations?a

This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations

and in all their kingdoms,

there is no one like you.

8 They are all senselessb and foolish;c

they are taught by worthless wooden idols.d

9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshishe

and gold from Uphaz.

What the craftsman and goldsmith have madef

is then dressed in blue and purple—

all made by skilled workers.

10 But the Lord is the true God;

he is the living God,g the eternal King.h

When he is angry,i the earth trembles;j

the nations cannot endure his wrath.k

11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perishl from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”a

12 But God madem the earthn by his power;

he founded the world by his wisdomo

and stretched out the heavensp by his understanding.

13 When he thunders,q the waters in the heavens roar;

he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightningr with the rains

and brings out the wind from his storehouses.t

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

every goldsmith is shamedu by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;v

they have no breath in them.

15 They are worthless,w the objects of mockery;

when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16 He who is the Portionx of Jacob is not like these,

for he is the Maker of all things,y

including Israel, the people of his inheritancez—

the Lord Almighty is his name.a

Coming Destruction

17 Gather up your belongingsb to leave the land,

you who live under siege.

18 For this is what the Lord says:

“At this time I will hurlc out

those who live in this land;

I will bring distressd on them

so that they may be captured.”

19 Woe to me because of my injury!

My wounde is incurable!

Yet I said to myself,

“This is my sickness, and I must enduref it.”

20 My tentg is destroyed;

all its ropes are snapped.

My children are gone from me and are no more;h

no one is left now to pitch my tent

or to set up my shelter.

21 The shepherdsi are senselessj

and do not inquire of the Lord;k

so they do not prosperl

and all their flock is scattered.m

22 Listen! The report is coming—

a great commotion from the land of the north!n

It will make the towns of Judah desolate,o

a haunt of jackals.p

Jeremiah’s Prayer

23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;

it is not for them to direct their steps.q

24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—

not in your anger,r

or you will reduce me to nothing.s

25 Pour out your wrath on the nationst

that do not acknowledge you,

on the peoples who do not call on your name.u

For they have devouredv Jacob;

they have devoured him completely

and destroyed his homeland.w