Chapter 9

A Lament over Zion

1 1aOh that my head were waters

And my eyes a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night

For the slain of the bdaughter of my people!

2 1aOh that I had in the desert

A wayfarers’ lodging place;

That I might leave my people

And go from them!

For all of them are badulterers,

An assembly of ctreacherous men.

3 “They abend their tongue like their bow;

Lies and not truth prevail in the land;

For they bproceed from evil to evil,

And they cdo not know Me,” declares the Lord.

4 “Let everyone abe on guard against his neighbor,

And bdo not trust any brother;

Because every cbrother deals 1craftily,

And every neighbor dgoes about as a slanderer.

5 “Everyone adeceives his neighbor

And does not speak the truth,

They have taught their tongue to speak lies;

They bweary themselves committing iniquity.

6 “Your adwelling is in the midst of deceit;

Through deceit they brefuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts,

“Behold, I will refine them and aassay them;

For bwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

8 “Their atongue is a deadly arrow;

It speaks deceit;

With his mouth one bspeaks peace to his neighbor,

But inwardly he csets an ambush for him.

9 “aShall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.

“On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?

10 “For the amountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,

And for the pastures of the bwilderness a dirge,

Because they are claid waste so that no one passes through,

And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;

Both the dbirds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

11 “I will make Jerusalem a aheap of ruins,

A haunt of bjackals;

And I will make the cities of Judah a cdesolation, without inhabitant.”

12 Who is the awise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom bthe mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? cWhy is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

13 The Lord said, “Because they have aforsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it,

14 but have awalked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the bBaals, as their cfathers taught them,”

15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, aI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bpoisoned water to drink.

16 “I will ascatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the bsword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“Consider and call for the amourning women, that they may come;

And send for the 1bwailing women, that they may come!

18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,

That our aeyes may shed tears

And our eyelids flow with water.

19 “For a voice of awailing is heard from Zion,

‘bHow are we ruined!

We are put to great shame,

For we have cleft the land,

Because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ”

20 Now hear the word of the Lord, O you awomen,

And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;

Teach your daughters wailing,

And everyone her neighbor a dirge.

21 For adeath has come up through our windows;

It has entered our palaces

To cut off the bchildren from the streets,

The young men from the town squares.

22 Speak, “Thus says the Lord,

‘The corpses of men will fall alike dung on the open field,

And like the sheaf after the reaper,

But no one will gather them.’ ”

23 Thus says the Lord, “aLet not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the bmighty man boast of his might, let not a crich man boast of his riches;

24 but let him who boasts aboast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who bexercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I cdelight in these things,” declares the Lord.

25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet auncircumcised—

26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and aall those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are buncircumcised of heart.”