Jeremiah 9:1-26 (New American Standard)

A Lament over Zion

1 ^a1Oh that my head were waters And my eyes a fountain of tears, That I might weep day and night For the slain of the ²daughter of my people ! 2 ^b3Oh 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 ⁴adulterers, An assembly of ⁵treacherous men. 3 "They ⁶bend their tongue like their bow ; Lies and not truth prevail in the land ; For they ⁷proceed from evil to evil, And they ⁸do not know Me," declares the LORD. 4 "Let everyone ⁹be on guard against his neighbor, And ¹⁰do not trust any brother ; Because every ¹¹brother deals ^ccraftily, And every neighbor ¹²goes about as a slanderer. 5 "Everyone ¹³deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies ; They ¹⁴weary themselves committing iniquity. 6 "Your ¹⁵dwelling is in the midst of deceit ; Through deceit they ¹⁶refuse to know Me," declares the LORD. 7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I will refine them and ¹⁷assay them; For ¹⁸what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people ? 8 "Their ¹⁹tongue is a deadly arrow ; It speaks deceit ; With his mouth one ²⁰speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he ²¹sets an ambush for him. 9 "²²Shall I not punish them for these things ?" declares the LORD. "On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself ? 10 "For the ²³mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the ²⁴wilderness a dirge, Because they are ²⁵laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard ; Both the ²⁶birds of the sky and the beasts have fled ; they are gone. 11 "I will make Jerusalem a ²⁷heap of ruins, A haunt of ²⁸jackals ; And I will make the cities of Judah a ²⁹desolation, without inhabitant." 12 Who is the ³⁰wise man that may understand this ? And who is he to whom ³¹the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? ³²Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through ? 13 The LORD said, "Because they have ³³forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have ³⁴walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the ³⁵Baals, as their ³⁶fathers taught them," 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, "behold, ³⁷I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them ³⁸poisoned water to drink. 16 "I will ³⁹scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known ; and I will send the ⁴⁰sword after them until I have annihilated them." 17 Thus says the LORD of hosts, "Consider and call for the ⁴¹mourning women, that they may come ; And send for the ^d42wailing women, that they may come ! 18 "Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, That our ⁴³eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water. 19 "For a voice of ⁴⁴wailing is heard from Zion, '⁴⁵How are we ruined ! We are put to great shame, For we have ⁴⁶left the land, Because they have cast down our dwellings.' " 20 Now hear the word of the LORD, O you ⁴⁷women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth ; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a dirge. 21 For ⁴⁸death has come up through our windows ; It has entered our palaces To cut off the ⁴⁹children from the streets, The young men from the town squares. 22 Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The corpses of men will fall ⁵⁰like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them."' 23 Thus says the LORD, "⁵¹Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the ⁵²mighty man boast of his might, let not a ⁵³rich man boast of his riches ; 24 but let him who boasts ⁵⁴boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who ⁵⁵exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth ; for I ⁵⁶delight 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 ⁵⁷uncircumcised - 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and ⁵⁸all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples ; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ⁵⁹uncircumcised of heart."