Jeremiah 8:13-9:24

English Standard Version

¹⁴ Why do we sit still?
^(D)Gather together; ^(E)let us go into the fortified cities
    and perish there,
for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish
    and has ^(F)given us ^(G)poisoned water to drink,
    because we have sinned against the Lord.
^15 (H)We looked for peace, but no good came;
    for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

^16 (I)“The snorting of their horses is heard ^(J)from Dan;
    at the sound of the neighing ^(K)of their stallions
    ^(L)the whole land quakes.
They come ^(M)and devour the land and all that fills it,
    the city and those who dwell in it.
¹⁷ For behold, I am sending among you ^(N)serpents,
    adders ^(O)that cannot be charmed,
    ^(P)and they shall bite you,”
declares the Lord.

²² Is there no ^(W)balm in Gilead?
    Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
    not been restored?
9 ^{[c] (X)}Oh that my head were waters,
    and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
    for the slain of ^(Y)the daughter of my people!
^2 [d] Oh that I had in the desert
    a travelers' lodging place,
that I might leave my people
    and go away from them!
For they are all ^(Z)adulterers,
    a company of ^(AA)treacherous men.
^3 (AB)They bend their tongue like a bow;
    falsehood and not truth has grown strong^[e] in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
    ^(AC)and they do not know me, declares the Lord.

^4 (AD)Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
    and put no trust in any brother,
for every ^(AE)brother is a deceiver,
    and every neighbor ^(AF)goes about as a slanderer.
⁵ Everyone deceives his neighbor,
    and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
    they weary themselves committing iniquity.
⁶ Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
    ^(AG)they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:
“Behold, ^(AH)I will refine them and ^(AI)test them,
    for what else can I do, ^(AJ)because of my people?
^8 (AK)Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
    ^(AL)it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth ^(AM)each speaks peace to his neighbor,
    but in his heart ^(AN)he plans an ambush for him.
^9 (AO)Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?

¹⁰ “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
    and a lamentation for ^(AP)the pastures of the wilderness,
^(AQ)because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
^(AR)both the birds of the air and the beasts
    have fled and are gone.
^11 (AS)I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
    ^(AT)a lair of jackals,
^(AU)and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    without inhabitant.”

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts:
^(BE)“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
    send for the skillful women to come;
¹⁸ let them make haste ^(BF)and raise a wailing over us,
    ^(BG)that our eyes may run down with tears
    and our eyelids flow with water.
¹⁹ For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ^(BH)‘How we are ruined!
    We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
    because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

²⁰ Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,
    and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
    and each to her neighbor a dirge.
²¹ For death has come up into our windows;
    it has entered our palaces,
^(BI)cutting off the children from the streets
    and the young men from the squares.
²² Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,
^(BJ)‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
    like dung upon the open field,
^(BK)like sheaves after the reaper,
    and none shall gather them.’”