Jeremiah 9-12

New American Standard Bible

Grief over Zion

9 ^[a]^(A)Oh, that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For those slain of the ^(B)daughter of my people!
²^[b]^(C)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are ^(D)adulterers,
An assembly of ^(E)treacherous people.
³“They ^(F)bend their tongues like their bows;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they ^(G)proceed from evil to evil,
And they ^(H)do not know Me,” declares the Lord.
⁴“Let everyone ^(I)be on guard against his neighbor,
And ^(J)do not trust any brother;
Because every ^(K)brother utterly ^[c]betrays,
And every neighbor ^(L)goes about as a slanderer.
⁵Everyone ^(M)deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They ^(N)weary themselves committing wrongdoing.
⁶Your ^(O)dwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^(P)refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says:

“Behold, I will refine them and ^(Q)put them to the test;
For ^(R)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
⁸Their ^(S)tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one ^(T)speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he ^(U)sets an ambush for him.
⁹^(V)Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?

¹⁰“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the ^(W)mountains,
And for the pastures of the ^(X)wilderness a song of mourning,
Because they are ^(Y)laid waste so that no one passes through,
And the sound of the livestock is not heard;
Both the ^(Z)birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.
¹¹I will make Jerusalem a ^(AA)heap of ruins,
A haunt of ^(AB)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a ^(AC)desolation without inhabitant.”

¹²Who is the ^(AD)wise person who may understand this? And who is he to whom ^(AE)the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? ^(AF)Why is the land destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? ¹³The Lord said, “Because they have ^(AG)abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, ¹⁴but have ^(AH)followed the stubbornness of their heart and the ^(AI)Baals, ^[d]as their ^(AJ)fathers taught them,” ¹⁵therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, ^(AK)I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them ^(AL)poisoned water to drink. ¹⁶I will also ^(AM)scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^(AN)sword after them until I have put an end to them.”

¹⁷This is what the Lord of armies says:

“Consider and call for the ^(AO)mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ^[e]^(AP)skillful women, that they may come!
¹⁸Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
So that our ^(AQ)eyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.
¹⁹For a voice of ^(AR)wailing is heard from Zion:
‘^(AS)How devastated we are!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^(AT)abandoned the land
Because they have torn down our homes.’”
²⁰Now hear the word of the Lord, you ^(AU)women,
And let your ears receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.
²¹For ^(AV)death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To eliminate the ^(AW)children from the streets,
The young men from the public squares.
²²Speak, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The corpses of people will fall ^(AX)like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says: “^(AY)Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the ^(AZ)mighty man boast of his might, nor a ^(BA)rich man boast of his riches; ²⁴but let the one who boasts ^(BB)boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^(BC)exercises ^[f]mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I ^(BD)delight 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 ^(BE)uncircumcised— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and ^(BF)all those inhabiting the desert who trim the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^(BG)uncircumcised of heart.”

A Satire on Idolatry

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“^(BH)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
³For the customs of the peoples are ^(BI)futile;
For ^(BJ)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
⁴They ^(BK)decorate the idol with silver and gold;
They ^(BL)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.
⁵They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they ^(BM)cannot speak;
They must be ^(BN)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they ^(BO)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶^(BP)There is none like You, Lord;
You are ^(BQ)great, and Your name is great in might.
⁷^(BR)Who would not fear You, O ^(BS)King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the ^(BT)wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸But they are altogether ^(BU)stupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!
⁹Beaten ^(BV)silver is brought from ^(BW)Tarshish,
And ^(BX)gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the ^(BY)work of skilled people.
¹⁰But the Lord is the ^(BZ)true God;
He is the ^(CA)living God and the ^(CB)everlasting King.
The ^(CC)earth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot ^(CD)endure His indignation.

¹¹^[g]This is what you shall say to them: “The ^(CE)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(CF)perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²It is ^(CG)He who made the earth by His power,
Who ^(CH)established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has ^(CI)stretched out the heavens.
¹³When He utters His ^(CJ)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(CK)clouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the ^(CL)wind from His storehouses.
¹⁴Every person is ^(CM)stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are ^(CN)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the ^(CO)time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁶The ^(CP)Portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^[h]^(CQ)Maker of everything,
And ^(CR)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(CS)Lord of armies is His name.

¹⁷^(CT)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am ^(CU)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may ^[i]be found.”

¹⁹^(CV)Woe to me, because of my ^[j]injury!
My ^(CW)wound is incurable.
But I said, “This certainly is a sickness,
And I ^(CX)must endure it.”
²⁰My ^(CY)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My ^(CZ)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is ^(DA)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
²¹For the shepherds have become stupid
And ^(DB)have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And ^(DC)all their flock is scattered.
²²The sound of a ^(DD)report! Behold, it is coming—
A great roar ^(DE)from the land of the north—
To ^(DF)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³I know, Lord, that ^(DG)a person’s way is not in himself,
^(DH)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴^(DI)Correct me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will ^[k]bring me to nothing.
²⁵^(DJ)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(DK)do not know You,
And on the families who ^(DL)do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have ^(DM)devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his ^[l]settlement.

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ²“^(DN)Hear the words of this ^(DO)covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ³and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “^(DP)Cursed is the one who does not obey the words of this covenant ⁴which I commanded your forefathers on the ^(DQ)day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the ^(DR)iron furnace, saying, ‘^(DS)Listen to My voice, and ^[m]do according to all that I command you; so you shall be ^(DT)My people, and I will be your God,’ ⁵in order to confirm the ^(DU)oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I replied, “^(DV)Amen, Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, “^(DW)Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘^(DX)Hear the words of this covenant and ^(DY)do them. ⁷For I solemnly ^(DZ)warned your fathers on the ^(EA)day I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, ^(EB)warning them persistently, saying, “^(EC)Listen to My voice.” ⁸Yet they ^(ED)did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in the stubbornness of their evil heart, each one of them; therefore I brought on them all the ^(EE)words of this covenant which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “A ^(EF)conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have ^(EG)turned back to the wrongdoings of their ^[n]ancestors who ^(EH)refused to hear My words, and they ^(EI)have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have ^(EJ)broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” ¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(EK)bringing disaster on them which they will ^(EL)not be able to escape; though they will ^(EM)cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will ^(EN)go and cry out to the gods to whom they ^[o]burn incense, but they certainly will not save them in the time of their disaster. ¹³For your gods are ^[p]^(EO)as many as your cities, Judah; and ^[q]as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the ^(EP)shameful thing, altars for ^[r]^(EQ)burning incense to Baal.

¹⁴“So as for you, ^(ER)do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will ^(ES)not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

¹⁵What right has My ^(ET)beloved in My house
When ^(EU)she has carried out many evil schemes?
Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,
^[s]So that you can rejoice?”
¹⁶The Lord named you
“A ^(EV)green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;
With the ^(EW)noise of a great ^[t]tumult
He has ^(EX)set fire to it,
And its branches are worthless.

¹⁷The Lord of armies, who ^(EY)planted you, has ^(EZ)pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have ^[u]done to provoke Me by ^[v]^(FA)offering sacrifices to Baal.

Plots against Jeremiah

¹⁸Moreover, the Lord ^(FB)made it known to me and I knew it;
Then You showed me their deeds.
¹⁹But I was like a gentle ^(FC)lamb led to the slaughter;
And I did not know that they had ^(FD)devised plots against me, saying,
“Let’s destroy the tree with its ^[w]fruit,
And ^(FE)let’s cut him off from the ^(FF)land of the living,
So that his ^(FG)name will no longer be remembered.”
²⁰But, Lord of armies, who ^(FH)judges righteously,
Who ^(FI)puts the ^[x]feelings and the heart to the test,
Let me see Your vengeance on them,
For to You I have ^[y]committed my cause.

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the people of ^(FJ)Anathoth, who are ^(FK)seeking your life, saying: “^(FL)Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, so that you do not ^(FM)die by our hand”; ²²therefore, this is what the Lord of armies says: “Behold, I am going to ^(FN)punish them! The ^(FO)young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; ²³and a remnant ^(FP)will not be left to them, because I will ^(FQ)bring disaster on the people of Anathoth—^(FR)the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah’s Prayer

12 ^(FS)Righteous are You, Lord, when I plead my case with You;
Nevertheless I would ^(FT)discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the ^(FU)way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who ^(FV)deal in treachery at ease?
²You have ^(FW)planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have also produced fruit.
You are ^(FX)near ^[z]to their lips
But far from their ^[aa]mind.
³But You ^(FY)know me, Lord;
You see me
And ^(FZ)examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter,
And ^[ab]set them apart for a ^(GA)day of slaughter!
⁴How long is the ^(GB)land to mourn,
And the ^(GC)vegetation of the ^[ac]countryside to dry up?
Due to the ^(GD)wickedness of those who live in it,
^(GE)Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because people have said, “He will not see our final ^(GF)end.”

⁵“If you have run with infantrymen and they have tired you out,
How can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the ^(GG)thicket by the Jordan?
⁶For even your ^(GH)brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have called aloud after you.
Do not believe them, though they say ^(GI)nice things to you.”

God’s Answer

⁷“I have ^(GJ)forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have handed the ^(GK)beloved of My soul
Over to her enemies.
⁸My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has ^[ad]^(GL)roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to ^(GM)hate her.
⁹Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the ^(GN)birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the ^(GO)animals of the field,
Bring them to devour!
¹⁰Many ^(GP)shepherds have ruined My ^(GQ)vineyard,
They have ^(GR)trampled down My field;
They have made My ^(GS)pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
¹¹^[ae]It has been made a desolation;
Desolate, it ^(GT)mourns ^[af]before Me;
The ^(GU)whole land has been made desolate,
Because no one ^(GV)takes it to heart.
¹²On all the ^[ag]^(GW)bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For the ^(GX)sword of the Lord is devouring
From one end of the land even to the ^[ah]other;
There is ^(GY)no peace for ^[ai]anyone.
¹³They have ^(GZ)sown wheat but have harvested thorns,
They have ^(HA)strained themselves ^[aj]to no profit.
So be ashamed of your ^(HB)produce
Because of the ^(HC)fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴This is what the Lord says concerning all My ^(HD)wicked neighbors who ^(HE)do harm to the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel: “Behold, I am going to drive them out of their land, and I will ^(HF)drive the house of Judah out from among them. ¹⁵And it will come about that after I have driven them out, I will ^(HG)again have compassion on them; and I will ^(HH)bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. ¹⁶Then, if they will really ^(HI)learn the ways of My people, to ^(HJ)swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught My people to ^(HK)swear by Baal, they will be ^(HL)built up in the midst of My people. ¹⁷But if they do not listen, then I will ^(HM)drive out that nation, drive it out and destroy it,” declares the Lord.