Jeremiah 9-11

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)”

God and Idols^(BH)

10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nations^(BI)
    or be terrified by signs^(BJ) in the heavens,
    though the nations are terrified by them.
³For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
    they cut a tree out of the forest,
    and a craftsman^(BK) shapes it with his chisel.^(BL)
⁴They adorn it with silver^(BM) and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so it will not totter.^(BN)
⁵Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;^(BO)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.^(BP)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm^(BQ)
    nor can they do any good.”^(BR)

⁶No one is like you,^(BS) Lord;
    you are great,^(BT)
    and your name is mighty in power.
⁷Who should not fear^(BU) you,
    King of the nations?^(BV)
    This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms,
    there is no one like you.

⁸They are all senseless^(BW) and foolish;^(BX)
    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.^(BY)
⁹Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish^(BZ)
    and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made^(CA)
    is then dressed in blue and purple—
    all made by skilled workers.
¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God,^(CB) the eternal King.^(CC)
When he is angry,^(CD) the earth trembles;^(CE)
    the nations cannot endure his wrath.^(CF)

¹¹“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish^(CG) from the earth and from under the heavens.’”^[f]

¹²But God made^(CH) the earth^(CI) by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(CJ)
    and stretched out the heavens^(CK) by his understanding.
¹³When he thunders,^(CL) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning^(CM) with the rain^(CN)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(CO)

¹⁴Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed^(CP) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(CQ)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁵They are worthless,^(CR) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁶He who is the Portion^(CS) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,^(CT)
including Israel, the people of his inheritance^(CU)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.^(CV)

Coming Destruction

¹⁷Gather up your belongings^(CW) to leave the land,
    you who live under siege.
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
    “At this time I will hurl^(CX) out
    those who live in this land;
I will bring distress^(CY) on them
    so that they may be captured.”

¹⁹Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound^(CZ) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure^(DA) it.”
²⁰My tent^(DB) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;^(DC)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
²¹The shepherds^(DD) are senseless^(DE)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;^(DF)
so they do not prosper^(DG)
    and all their flock is scattered.^(DH)
²²Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!^(DI)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^(DJ)
    a haunt of jackals.^(DK)

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps.^(DL)
²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger,^(DM)
    or you will reduce me to nothing.^(DN)
²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations^(DO)
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name.^(DP)
For they have devoured^(DQ) Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.^(DR)

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Listen to the terms of this covenant^(DS) and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. ³Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed^(DT) is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— ⁴the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,^(DU) out of the iron-smelting furnace.^(DV)’ I said, ‘Obey^(DW) me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,^(DX) and I will be your God. ⁵Then I will fulfill the oath I swore^(DY) to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’^(DZ)—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen,^(EA) Lord.”

⁶The Lord said to me, “Proclaim^(EB) all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow^(EC) them. ⁷From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,^(ED) saying, “Obey me.” ⁸But they did not listen or pay attention;^(EE) instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^(EF) So I brought on them all the curses^(EG) of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.^(EH)’”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy^(EI) among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have returned to the sins of their ancestors,^(EJ) who refused to listen to my words.^(EK) They have followed other gods^(EL) to serve them.^(EM) Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant^(EN) I made with their ancestors. ¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster^(EO) they cannot escape.^(EP) Although they cry^(EQ) out to me, I will not listen^(ER) to them. ¹²The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,^(ES) but they will not help them at all when disaster^(ET) strikes. ¹³You, Judah, have as many gods^(EU) as you have towns;^(EV) and the altars you have set up to burn incense^(EW) to that shameful^(EX) god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

¹⁴“Do not pray^(EY) for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen^(EZ) when they call to me in the time of their distress.

¹⁵“What is my beloved doing in my temple
    as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
    Can consecrated meat^(FA) avert your punishment?^(FB)
When you engage in your wickedness,
    then you rejoice.^[g]”

¹⁶The Lord called you a thriving olive tree^(FC)
    with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
    he will set it on fire,^(FD)
    and its branches will be broken.^(FE)

¹⁷The Lord Almighty, who planted^(FF) you, has decreed disaster^(FG) for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused^(FH) my anger by burning incense to Baal.^(FI)

Plot Against Jeremiah

¹⁸Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;^(FJ) I did not realize that they had plotted^(FK) against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;
    let us cut him off from the land of the living,^(FL)
    that his name be remembered^(FM) no more.”
²⁰But you, Lord Almighty, who judge righteously^(FN)
    and test the heart^(FO) and mind,^(FP)
let me see your vengeance^(FQ) on them,
    for to you I have committed my cause.

²¹Therefore this is what the Lord says about the people of Anathoth^(FR) who are threatening to kill you,^(FS) saying, “Do not prophesy^(FT) in the name of the Lord or you will die^(FU) by our hands”— ²²therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will punish them. Their young men^(FV) will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine. ²³Not even a remnant^(FW) will be left to them, because I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.^(FX)”

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
Jeremiah 10:11 The text of this verse is in Aramaic.
Jeremiah 11:15 Or Could consecrated meat avert your punishment? / Then you would rejoice