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Jeremiah 9-12
GOD’S WORD Translation
Jeremiah 9-12
GOD’S WORD Translation
9 [a]“I wish that my head were ⌞filled with⌟ water
and my eyes were a fountain of tears
so that I could cry day and night
for my dear people who have been killed.
2 I wish I had a place to stay in the desert.
I would abandon my people and go away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a mob of traitors.
3 They use their tongues like bows that shoot arrows.
Lies and dishonesty rule the land.[b]
They go from one evil thing to another,
and they don’t know me,” declares the Lord.
4 “Beware of your neighbors.
Don’t trust your relatives.
Every relative cheats.
Every neighbor goes around slandering.
5 Everyone cheats his neighbor.
No one speaks the truth.
My people train their tongues to speak lies.
They wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 Oppression follows oppression.[c]
Deceit follows deceit.
They refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I will now refine them with fire and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
People speak politely to their neighbors,
but they think of ways to set traps for them.
9 I will punish them for these things, declares the Lord.
I will punish this nation.
I still won’t be satisfied.
10 I will cry and weep for the mountains.
I will sing a funeral song for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are destroyed so that no one can travel through them.
No one can hear the sound of cattle.
Birds and cattle have fled.
They are gone.
11 I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a home for jackals.
I will destroy the cities of Judah so that no one can live there.
12 No one is wise enough to understand this.
To whom has the Lord revealed this
so that they can explain it?
The land dies; it has been ruined like the desert
so that no one can travel through it.
13 The Lord answered,
“They’ve abandoned my teachings that I placed in front of them.
They didn’t obey me, and they didn’t follow them.
14 They followed their own stubborn ways and other gods—the Baals,
as their ancestors taught them.”
15 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:
I am going to feed these people bitterness
and give them poison to drink.
16 I will scatter them among nations
that they and their ancestors haven’t heard of.
I will send armies after them until I’ve wiped them out.
17 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
Consider this:
Call for the women who cry at funerals.
Send for those who are the most skilled.
18 They should come quickly and cry for us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will flow with water.
19 The sound of crying is heard from Zion.
“We’re ruined! We’re very ashamed.
We must leave our land because our homes have been torn down.”
20 Listen to the Lord’s word, you women,
and open your ears to hear his words.
Teach your daughters how to cry.
Teach your neighbors funeral songs.
21 Death has come through our windows and entered our palaces.
Death has cut down the children in the streets
and the young men in the marketplaces.
22 This is what the Lord says:
Dead bodies will fall like manure on the field.
They will be like grain that has been cut but not gathered.
The Lord Is the Only True God
23 This is what the Lord says:
Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom.
Don’t let strong people brag about their strength.
Don’t let rich people brag about their riches.
24 If they want to brag, they should brag that they understand and know me.
They should brag that I, the Lord, act out of love, righteousness,
and justice on the earth.
This kind of bragging pleases me, declares the Lord.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish all who are circumcised.
26 I will punish Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, and Moab.
I will punish all who shave the hair on their foreheads
or live in the desert.
Even though these nations are circumcised,
all Israel has uncircumcised hearts.”
10 Listen to the message that the Lord has spoken to you, nation of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
Don’t learn the practices of the nations.
Don’t be frightened by the signs in the sky
because the nations are frightened by them.
3 The religion of the people is worthless.
Woodcutters cut down trees from the forest.
The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes.
4 Craftsmen decorate them with silver and gold
and fasten them ⌞together⌟ with hammers and nails
so that they won’t fall over.
5 These trees are like scarecrows in cucumber gardens.
They aren’t able to speak.
They have to be carried, because they can’t walk.
Don’t be afraid of them.
They can’t harm you.
They can’t do you any good either.
6 No one is like you, O Lord.
You are great.
Your name is powerful.
7 Everyone fears you, O King of the Nations.
This is what you deserve.
No one is like you among all the wise people in the nations
or in all their kingdoms.
8 They are complete idiots.
They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz.
Craftsmen and goldsmiths shape these metals.
The clothing for the idols is blue and purple,
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the Lord is the only God.
He is the living God and eternal king.
The earth trembles when he is angry.
The nations can’t endure his fury.
11 Tell them this: These gods will disappear from the earth
and from under heaven because they didn’t make heaven and earth.
12 The Lord made the earth by his power.
He set up the world by his skill.
He stretched out the world by his understanding.
13 He speaks, and the water in the sky produces a storm.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning flash with the rain.
He brings wind out of his storehouses.
14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Metalsmiths are put to shame by their idols.
Their statues are false ⌞gods⌟.
They can’t breathe.
15 They are worthless jokes.
When they are punished, they disappear.
16 Jacob’s God isn’t like them.
He made everything,
and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him.
His name is the Lord of Armies.
17 Pick up your bags. You are being blockaded.
18 This is what the Lord says:
I am going to throw out those who live in the land at this time
and cause trouble for them so that they will feel it.
19 Oh, I’m wounded!
My wound is serious.
Then I thought that this is my punishment, and I will bear it.
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my ropes are broken.
My children have left me and have disappeared.
There’s no one to set up my tent again
or put up my tent curtains.
21 The shepherds are foolish.
They don’t look to the Lord for help.
That is why they won’t succeed,
and all their flocks will be scattered.
22 The report has arrived.
A tremendous uproar is coming from the land of the north.
Its army will destroy Judah’s cities
and make them homes for jackals.
23 O Lord, I know that the way humans act is not under their control.
Humans do not direct their steps as they walk.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but please be fair.
Don’t correct me when you’re angry.
Otherwise, you’ll reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t know you
and on people who don’t worship you.
They have devoured the descendants of Jacob.
They have devoured them completely.
They have destroyed their homes.
Judah Has Disobeyed the Terms of the Lord’s Promise
11 This is the message that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Listen to the terms of this promise,[d] and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed is anyone who doesn’t listen to the terms of this promise. 4 I made this promise to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, which was an iron smelter. I said, “Obey me, and do everything that I have told you to do. Then you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 I will keep the oath I made to your ancestors and give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you still have today.” ’ ”
I answered, “Yes, Lord.”
6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all these things in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Listen to the terms of this promise, and keep them. 7 I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, and the warning still applies to you today. I solemnly warned them to obey me. 8 But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own stubborn, evil ways. So I punished them, because they did not keep all the terms of the promise, the terms that I commanded them to keep.”
9 The Lord said to me, “Conspiracy exists among the people of Judah and among those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They’ve gone back to the evil ways of their ancestors and refused to obey my words. They are following other gods and worshiping them. The nations of Israel and Judah have rejected the promise that I made to their ancestors. 11 This is what the Lord says: I’m going to bring a disaster on them that they can’t escape. Although they will cry out to me, I won’t listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will cry to the gods to whom they’ve been sacrificing. But these gods will never rescue them when they’re in trouble. 13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have cities. You have set up many altars ⌞in Jerusalem⌟ to sacrifice to Baal. You have as many altars as there are streets in Jerusalem. 14 Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. I won’t listen when they call to me for help in times of trouble.
15 “What right do these people I love have to be in my house
when they do so many devious things?
Can the meat from their sacrifices turn disaster away from them?
They rejoice when they do evil.”
16 The Lord called you a large olive tree
that has beautiful fruit to look at.
He will set fire to you with a mighty storm,
and your branches will be broken.
17 The Lord of Armies planted you.
He has pronounced disaster on you.
This is because of the evil things
that Israel and Judah have done.
They have made him furious by burning incense
as an offering to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Is Threatened
18 The Lord revealed their plot to me so that I would understand. He showed me what they were doing. 19 I was like a trusting lamb brought to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they were plotting against me. They were saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit. Let’s cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we won’t be reminded of him anymore.”
20 O Lord of Armies, you judge fairly
and test motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
21 This is what the Lord says: The people of Anathoth want to kill you. They say, “Don’t prophesy in the name of the Lord, or we’ll kill you.”
22 This is what the Lord of Armies says: I’m going to punish them. The young men will die because of war. Their sons and daughters will die because of famine. 23 I will bring a disaster on the people of Anathoth. It will be a year of punishment. There will be no survivors.
Jeremiah’s Question
12 O Lord, even if I would argue my case with you,
you would always be right.
Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice.
Why do wicked people succeed?
Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?
2 You plant them, and they take root.
They grow, and they produce fruit.
They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.
3 You know me, O Lord.
You see me and test my devotion to you.
Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered.
Prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land mourn?
How long will the plants in every field remain dried up?
The animals and the birds are dying,
because people are wicked.
They think that God [e] doesn’t know what they are doing.
The Lord’s Reply
5 “If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in open country,
how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River?
6 Even your relatives and members of your father’s household betray you.
They have also formed a mob to find you.
Don’t trust them when they say good things about you.
7 “I have abandoned my nation.
I have left my own people.
I have handed the people I love over to their enemies.
8 My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest.
They roar at me, so I hate them.
9 My people are like a colorful bird of prey.
Other birds of prey surround it.
Go, gather all the animals in the field,
and bring them to devour it.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard.
They’ve trampled my property.
They’ve turned my pleasant property into a wasteland.
11 They’ve left it a wasteland.
Devastated, it mourns in my presence.
The whole land is destroyed,
but no one takes this to heart.
12 Looters swarm all over the bare hills in the desert.
The Lord’s sword destroys them
from one end of the land to the other.
No one will be safe.
13 My people planted wheat, but they harvested thorns.
They worked until they became sick, but they gained nothing by it.
They were disappointed by their harvests
because of the burning anger of the Lord.
14 “This is what I, the Lord, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15 After I’ve uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands. 16 Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, ‘As the Lord lives …’ as they taught my people to take an oath in ⌞the name of⌟ Baal. Then they will build homes among my people. 17 But suppose they don’t listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it,” declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- 9:1 Jeremiah 9:1–26 in English Bibles is Jeremiah 8:23–9:25 in the Hebrew Bible.
- 9:3 Greek; Masoretic Text “They bend their tongue. Their bow is falsehood. And not for truth are they strong in the land.”
- 9:6 Greek; Masoretic Text “Your sitting is in the midst of deceit.”
- 11:2 Or “covenant.”
- 12:4 Greek; Masoretic Text “he.”
Jeremiah 9-12
New International Version
Jeremiah 9-12
New International Version
9 [a]1 Oh, 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)
2 Oh, 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)
5 Friend deceives friend,(M)
and no one speaks the truth.(N)
They have taught their tongues to lie;(O)
they weary themselves with sinning.
6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;(P)
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7 Therefore 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?
8 Their 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)
9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(W) myself
on such a nation as this?”
10 I 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)
12 Who 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?
13 The 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) 14 Instead, they have followed(AF) the stubbornness of their hearts;(AG) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore 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) 16 I 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)
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(AN) to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.(AO)
19 The 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.’”
20 Now, 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)
21 Death 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.
22 Say, “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.’”
23 This 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)
24 but 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)— 26 Egypt, 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. 2 This 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.
3 For 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)
4 They adorn it with silver(BM) and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.(BN)
5 Like 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)
6 No one is like you,(BS) Lord;
you are great,(BT)
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who 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.
8 They are all senseless(BW) and foolish;(BX)
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.(BY)
9 Hammered 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.
10 But 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]
12 But 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.
13 When 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)
14 Everyone 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.
15 They are worthless,(CR) the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
16 He 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
17 Gather up your belongings(CW) to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For 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.”
19 Woe 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.”
20 My 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.
21 The 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)
22 Listen! 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
23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.(DL)
24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,(DM)
or you will reduce me to nothing.(DN)
25 Pour 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. 3 Tell 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— 4 the 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. 5 Then 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.”
6 The 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. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,(ED) saying, “Obey me.” 8 But 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)’”
9 Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy(EI) among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They 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. 11 Therefore 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. 12 The 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. 13 You, 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]”
16 The 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)
17 The 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
18 Because the Lord revealed their plot to me, I knew it, for at that time he showed me what they were doing. 19 I 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.”
20 But 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.
21 Therefore 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”— 22 therefore 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. 23 Not 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)”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You are always righteous,(FY) Lord,
when I bring a case(FZ) before you.
Yet I would speak with you about your justice:(GA)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(GB)
Why do all the faithless live at ease?
2 You have planted(GC) them, and they have taken root;
they grow and bear fruit.(GD)
You are always on their lips
but far from their hearts.(GE)
3 Yet you know me, Lord;
you see me and test(GF) my thoughts about you.
Drag them off like sheep(GG) to be butchered!
Set them apart for the day of slaughter!(GH)
4 How long will the land lie parched(GI)
and the grass in every field be withered?(GJ)
Because those who live in it are wicked,
the animals and birds have perished.(GK)
Moreover, the people are saying,
“He will not see what happens to us.”
God’s Answer
5 “If you have raced with men on foot
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[h] in safe country,
how will you manage in the thickets(GL) by[i] the Jordan?
6 Your relatives, members of your own family—
even they have betrayed you;
they have raised a loud cry against you.(GM)
Do not trust them,
though they speak well of you.(GN)
7 “I will forsake(GO) my house,
abandon(GP) my inheritance;
I will give the one I love(GQ)
into the hands of her enemies.(GR)
8 My inheritance has become to me
like a lion(GS) in the forest.
She roars at me;
therefore I hate her.(GT)
9 Has not my inheritance become to me
like a speckled bird of prey
that other birds of prey surround and attack?
Go and gather all the wild beasts;
bring them to devour.(GU)
10 Many shepherds(GV) will ruin my vineyard
and trample down my field;
they will turn my pleasant field
into a desolate wasteland.(GW)
11 It will be made a wasteland,(GX)
parched and desolate before me;(GY)
the whole land will be laid waste
because there is no one who cares.
12 Over all the barren heights in the desert
destroyers will swarm,
for the sword(GZ) of the Lord(HA) will devour(HB)
from one end of the land to the other;(HC)
no one will be safe.(HD)
13 They will sow wheat but reap thorns;
they will wear themselves out but gain nothing.(HE)
They will bear the shame of their harvest
because of the Lord’s fierce anger.”(HF)
14 This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance(HG) I gave my people Israel, I will uproot(HH) them from their lands and I will uproot(HI) the people of Judah from among them. 15 But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion(HJ) and will bring(HK) each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. 16 And if they learn(HL) well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives’(HM)—even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal(HN)—then they will be established among my people.(HO) 17 But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy(HP) it,” declares the Lord.
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
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or you feel secure only
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or the flooding of
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