Jeremiah 9

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

Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? then would I weep for this my people day and night, [even] for the slain of the daughter of my people.

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

Who would give me a most distant lodge in the wilderness, that I might leave my people, and depart from them? for they all commit adultery, an assembly of treacherous men.

3 And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, says the LORD.

And they have bent their tongue like a bow: falsehood and not faithfulness has prevailed upon the earth; for they have gone on from evil to evil, and have not known me, saith the Lord.

4 Take all of you heed every one of his neighbour, and trust all of you not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.

Beware ye each of his neighbour, and trust ye not in your brethren: for every one will surely supplant, and every friend will walk craftily.

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

Every one will mock his friend; they will not speak truth: their tongue has learned to speak falsehoods; they have committed iniquity, they ceased not, so as to return.

6 your habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, says the LORD.

[There is] usury upon usury, and deceit upon deceit: they would not know me, saith the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people?

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will try them with fire, and prove them; for I will do [thus] because of the wickedness of the daughter of my people.

8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaks deceit: one speaks peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he lays his wait.

Their tongue is a wounding arrow; the words of their mouth are deceitful: [one] speaks peaceably to his neighbour, but in himself retains enmity.

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

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a people as this?

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

Take up a lamentation for the mountains, and a mournful dirge for the paths of the wilderness, for they are desolate for want of men; they heard not the sound of life from the birds of the sky, nor the cattle: they were amazed, they are gone.

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

And I will remove the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and make it a dwelling-place of dragons; and I will utterly waste the cities of Juda, so that they shall not be inhabited.

12 Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perishes and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passes through?

Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and he that has the word of the mouth of the Lord [addressed] to him, let him tell you wherefore the land has been destroyed, has been ravaged by fire like a desert, so that no one passes through it.

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

And the Lord said to me, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not hearkened to my voice;

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

but went after the lusts of their evil heart, and after the idols which their fathers taught them [to worship]:

15 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them with trouble and will cause them to drink water of gall:

16 I will scatter 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.

and I will scatter them among the nations, to them whom neither they nor their fathers knew; and I will send a sword upon them, until I have consumed them with it.

17 Thus says the LORD of hosts, Consider all of you, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come:

Thus saith the Lord, Call ye the mourning women, and let them come; and send to the wise women, and let them utter their voice;

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.

and let them take up a lamentation for you, and let your eyes pour down tears, and your eyelids drop water.

19 For a 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 cast us out.

For a voice of lamentation has been heard in Sion, How are we become wretched! we are greatly ashamed, for we have forsaken the land, and have abandoned our tabernacles!

20 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O all of you women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation.

Hear now, ye women, the word of God, and let your ears receive the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and [every] woman her neighbour a dirge.

21 For death has come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.

For death has come up through your windows, it has entered into our land, to destroy the infants without, and the young men from the streets.

22 Speak, Thus says the LORD, Even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.

And the carcases of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather [them].

23 Thus says the LORD, Let 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:

Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth;

24 But let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the LORD.

but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, saith the Lord.

25 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;

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

on Egypt, and on Idumea, and on Edom, and on the children of Ammon, and on the children of Moab, and on every one that shaves his face round about, [even] them that dwell in the wilderness; for all the Gentiles are uncircumcised in flesh, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised [in] their hearts.