Jeremiah 9

New International Version

9 ^[a]¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!^(A)
I would weep^(B) day and night
    for the slain of my people.^(C)
²Oh, that I had in the desert^(D)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,^(E)
    a crowd of unfaithful^(F) people.

³“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(G)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(H) me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴“Beware of your friends;^(I)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.^(J)
For every one of them is a deceiver,^[c]^(K)
    and every friend a slanderer.^(L)
⁵Friend deceives friend,^(M)
    and no one speaks the truth.^(N)
They have taught their tongues to lie;^(O)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶You^[d] live in the midst of deception;^(P)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine^(Q) and test^(R) them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
⁸Their tongue^(S) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,^(T)
    but in their hearts they set traps^(U) for them.^(V)
⁹Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge^(W) myself
    on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.^(X)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds^(Y) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

¹¹“I will make Jerusalem a heap^(Z) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;^(AA)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah^(AB)
so no one can live there.”^(AC)

¹²Who is wise^(AD) 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?

¹³The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.^(AE) ¹⁴Instead, they have followed^(AF) the stubbornness of their hearts;^(AG) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food^(AH) and drink poisoned water.^(AI) ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations^(AJ) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,^(AK) and I will pursue them with the sword^(AL) until I have made an end of them.”^(AM)

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(AN) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(AO)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(AP) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(AQ)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(AR)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(AS)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(AT) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(AU) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^(AV)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(AW)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(AX)
²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^(AY) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(AZ) me,
that I am the Lord,^(BA) who exercises kindness,^(BB)
    justice and righteousness^(BC) 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 flesh^(BD)— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^[e]^(BE) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^(BF) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^(BG)”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25.
Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
Jeremiah 9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular)
Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads

2 Corinthians 1

New International Version

1 Paul, an apostle^(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^(B) and Timothy^(C) our brother,

To the church of God^(D) in Corinth,^(E) together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:^(F)

²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(G)

Praise to the God of All Comfort

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,^(H) the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴who comforts us^(I) in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,^(J) so also our comfort abounds through Christ. ⁶If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation;^(K) if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,^(L) so also you share in our comfort.

⁸We do not want you to be uninformed,^(M) brothers and sisters,^[a] about the troubles we experienced^(N) in the province of Asia.^(O) We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. ⁹Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God,^(P) who raises the dead.^(Q) ¹⁰He has delivered us from such a deadly peril,^(R) and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope^(S) that he will continue to deliver us, ¹¹as you help us by your prayers.^(T) Then many will give thanks^(U) on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹²Now this is our boast: Our conscience^(V) testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity^[b]^(W) and godly sincerity.^(X) We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom^(Y) but on God’s grace. ¹³For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, ¹⁴as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.^(Z)

¹⁵Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you^(AA) first so that you might benefit twice.^(AB) ¹⁶I wanted to visit you on my way^(AC) to Macedonia^(AD) and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way^(AE) to Judea.^(AF) ¹⁷Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner^(AG) so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

¹⁸But as surely as God is faithful,^(AH) our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹For the Son of God,^(AI) Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas^[c]^(AJ) and Timothy^(AK)—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always^(AL) been “Yes.” ²⁰For no matter how many promises^(AM) God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen”^(AN) is spoken by us to the glory of God.^(AO) ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm^(AP) in Christ. He anointed^(AQ) us, ²²set his seal^(AR) of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.^(AS)

²³I call God as my witness^(AT)—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you^(AU) that I did not return to Corinth. ²⁴Not that we lord it over^(AV) your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.^(AW)

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 1:8 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 8:1; 13:11.
2 Corinthians 1:12 Many manuscripts holiness
2 Corinthians 1:19 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas