Jeremiah 9:3-9

The Voice

³ Eternal One: With tongues bent like bows they shoot their lies at one another.
        Truth does not win out in this land; deceit always seems to triumph.
    One evil leads to another because they don’t know who I am.
⁴     Let everyone be careful of his neighbor,
        and think twice before he trusts his brothers;
    For every brother is ready to cheat and deceive;
        every neighbor is prepared to lie when it suits him.
⁵     In this land of liars, friends have no misgivings about deceiving one another;
        no one even thinks to tell the truth.
    They’ve trained their tongues to utter lies;
        they wear themselves out with all their sinning.
⁶     Jeremiah, you live in a place where deception is assumed;
        as their lies pile up, they refuse to acknowledge Me.

Eternal One: Watch, I will refine this nation and put them to the test.
        What else can I do with My people?
⁸     Their tongues are like deadly arrows;
        they speak such lies;
    Each one leads his neighbor with kind words
        into a trap that was already set.
⁹     Should I not punish them for what they do?
        Should I not repay a nation that acts this way?