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Jeremiah 9-12
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah 9-12
Holman Christian Standard Bible
9 [a]If my head were a spring of water,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night(A)
over the slain of my dear[b] people.
2 [c]If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(B)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(C)
3 They bent their tongues like their bows;
lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,
for they proceed from one evil to another,
and they do not take Me into account.(D)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Imminent Ruin and Exile
4 Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,
and every friend spread slander.(E)
5 Each one betrays his friend;
no one tells the truth.
They have taught their tongues to speak lies;
they wear themselves out doing wrong.
6 You live in a world of deception.[d]
In their deception they refuse to know Me.(F)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
7 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
I am about to refine them and test them,(G)
for what else can I do
because of My dear[e] people?[f]
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows—
they speak deception.(H)
With his mouth
a man speaks peaceably with his friend,
but inwardly he sets up an ambush.
9 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(I)
on such a nation as this?
10 I will raise weeping and a lament
over the mountains,
a dirge over the wilderness grazing land,
for they have been so scorched
that no one passes through.
The sound of cattle is no longer heard.
From the birds of the sky to the animals,(J)
everything has fled—they have gone away.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble,(K)
a jackals’ den.(L)
I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
an uninhabited place.
12 Who is the man wise enough to understand this?(M) Who has the Lord spoken to, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a wilderness, so no one can pass through?
13 The Lord said, “It is because they abandoned My instruction(N) that I set in front of them and did not obey My voice or walk according to it. 14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts(O) and followed after the Baals as their fathers taught them.”(P) 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood(Q) and give them poisonous water to drink.(R) 16 I will scatter them among the nations(S) that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
Mourning over Judah
17 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Consider, and summon the women who mourn;(T)
send for the skillful women.
18 Let them come quickly to raise a lament over us
so that our eyes may overflow with tears,
our eyelids soaked with weeping.
19 For a sound of lamentation is heard from Zion:
How devastated we are.
We are greatly ashamed,(U)
for we have abandoned the land;
our dwellings have been torn down.
20 Now hear the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to[g] the word of His mouth.
Teach your daughters a lament
and one another a dirge,
21 for Death(V) has climbed through our windows;
it has entered our fortresses,
cutting off children from the streets,
young men from the squares.
22 Speak as follows:
This is what the Lord says:
Human corpses will fall
like manure on the surface of the field,
like newly cut grain(W) after the reaper
with no one to gather it.
Boast in the Lord
23 This is what the Lord says:
The wise man must not boast in his wisdom;
the strong man must not boast in his strength;
the wealthy man must not boast in his wealth.
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me(X)—
that I am Yahweh, showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
25 “The days are coming”—the Lord’s declaration—“when I will punish all the circumcised yet uncircumcised:(Y) 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair on their temples.[h] All these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”(Z)
False Gods Contrasted with the Creator
10 Hear the word that the Lord has spoken to[i] you, house of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
Do not learn the way of the nations(AA)
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are terrified by them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are worthless.
Someone cuts down a tree from the forest;
it is worked by the hands of a craftsman with a chisel.
4 He decorates it with silver and gold.(AB)
It is fastened with hammer and nails,(AC)
so it won’t totter.
5 Like scarecrows in a cucumber patch,
their idols cannot speak.(AD)
They must be carried(AE) because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them for they can do no harm(AF)—
and they cannot do any good.(AG)
6 Yahweh, there is no one like You.(AH)
You are great;
Your name is great in power.(AI)
7 Who should not fear You,
King of the nations?(AJ)
It is what You deserve.
For among all the wise people of the nations
and among all their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
8 They are both stupid and foolish,
instructed by worthless idols
made of wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,(AK)
and gold from Uphaz[j](AL)
from the hands of a goldsmith,
the work of a craftsman.
Their clothing is blue and purple,
all the work of skilled artisans.
10 But Yahweh is the true God;(AM)
He is the living God(AN) and eternal King.(AO)
The earth quakes at His wrath,(AP)
and the nations cannot endure His rage.
11 You are to say this to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens(AQ) and the earth will perish from the earth(AR) and from under these heavens.”[k]
12 He made the earth by His power,
established the world(AS) by His wisdom,(AT)
and spread out the heavens by His understanding.(AU)
13 When He thunders,[l]
the waters in the heavens are in turmoil,(AV)
and He causes the clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.(AW)
14 Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame
by his carved image,(AX)
for his cast images are a lie;(AY)
there is no breath in them.(AZ)
15 They are worthless, a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment
they will be destroyed.(BA)
16 Jacob’s Portion[m] is not like these
because He is the One who formed all things.(BB)
Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;(BC)
Yahweh of Hosts is His name.(BD)
Exile After the Siege
18 For this is what the Lord says:
Look, I am slinging out(BF)
the land’s residents at this time
and bringing them such distress
that they will feel it.
Jeremiah Grieves
19 Woe to me because of my brokenness—
I am severely wounded!(BG)
I exclaimed, “This is my intense suffering,
but I must bear it.”
20 My tent is destroyed;(BH)
all my tent cords are snapped.
My sons have departed from me and are no more.
I have no one to pitch my tent again
or to hang up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are stupid:
they don’t seek the Lord.(BI)
Therefore they have not prospered,
and their whole flock is scattered.
22 Listen! A noise—it is coming—
a great commotion(BJ) from the land to the north.
The cities of Judah will be made desolate,
a jackals’ den.(BK)
23 I know, Lord,
that a man’s way of life is not his own;
no one who walks determines his own steps.(BL)
24 Discipline me, Lord, but with justice—
not in Your anger,(BM)
or You will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations
that don’t recognize You
and on the families
that don’t call on Your name,
for they have consumed Jacob;
they have consumed him and finished him off
and made his homeland desolate.(BN)
Reminder of the Covenant
11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Listen to the words of this covenant(BO) and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem. 3 You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,(BP) 4 which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,(BQ) out of the iron furnace.’(BR) I declared: ‘Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,’(BS) 5 in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors,(BT) to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”(BU)
6 The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. 7 For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again,[o](BV) ‘Obey My voice.’ 8 Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart.(BW) So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”
9 The Lord said to me, “A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah(BX) and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors(BY) who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them.(BZ) The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.
11 “Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape.(CA) They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.(CB) 13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah,(CC) and the altars you have set up to Shame[p](CD)—altars to burn incense to Baal—as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.
14 “As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf,(CE) for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.
15 What right does My beloved have
to be in My house,(CF)
having carried out so many evil schemes?
Can holy meat[q](CG) prevent your disaster[r]
so you can rejoice?
16 The Lord named you
a flourishing olive tree,(CH)
beautiful with well-formed fruit.
He has set fire to it,
and its branches are consumed[s](CI)
with a great roaring sound.(CJ)
17 “The Lord of Hosts who planted you(CK) has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal.”
18 The Lord informed me, so I knew.
Then You helped me to see their deeds,
19 for I was like a docile[t] lamb led to slaughter.(CL)
I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;[u]
let’s cut him off from the land of the living(CM)
so that his name will no longer be remembered.”
20 But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously,
who tests(CN) heart[v] and mind,(CO)
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.(CP)
21 Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth(CQ) who want to take your life. They warn, “You must not prophesy in the name of Yahweh, or you will certainly die at our hand.” 22 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.(CR) 23 They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth(CS) in the year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah’s Complaint
12 You will be righteous, Lord,(CT)
even if I bring a case against You.
Yet, I wish to contend with You:(CU)
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?(CV)
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
2 You planted them,(CW) and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,[w]
but far from their conscience.[x](CX)
3 As for You, Lord, You know me; You see me.(CY)
You test whether my heart is with You.(CZ)
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter(DA)
and set them apart for the day of killing.
4 How long will the land mourn(DB)
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”[y](DC)
The Lord’s Response
5 If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble[z] in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?(DD)
6 Even your brothers—your own father’s household—
even they were treacherous to you;(DE)
even they have cried out loudly after you.(DF)
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.
7 I have abandoned My house;(DG)
I have deserted My inheritance.
I have given the love of My life
into the hands of her enemies.
8 My inheritance has acted toward Me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against Me.
Therefore, I hate her.(DH)
9 Is My inheritance like a hyena[aa] to Me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;(DI)
bring them to devour her.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;
they have trampled My plot of land.(DJ)
They have turned My desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
11 They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before Me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.(DK)
12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.(DL)
13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.(DM)
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.(DN)
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.(DO)
14 This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them(DP) from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion(DQ) on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16 If they will diligently learn the ways of My people(DR)—to swear by My name, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ just as they taught My people to swear by Baal—they will be built up among My people. 17 However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”(DS)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 9:1 Jr 8:23 in Hb
- Jeremiah 9:1 Lit slain among the daughter of my
- Jeremiah 9:2 Jr 9:1 in Hb
- Jeremiah 9:6 LXX reads Oppression on oppression, deceit on deceit
- Jeremiah 9:7 Lit of the daughter of My
- Jeremiah 9:7 LXX, Tg read because of their evils
- Jeremiah 9:20 Lit Your ears must receive
- Jeremiah 9:26 Or who live in distant places
- Jeremiah 10:1 Or against
- Jeremiah 10:9 Or Ophir
- Jeremiah 10:11 This is the only Aram v. in Jr.
- Jeremiah 10:13 Lit At His giving of the voice
- Jeremiah 10:16 = the Lord
- Jeremiah 10:17 Lit bundle
- Jeremiah 11:7 Lit today, rising early and warning
- Jeremiah 11:13 = Baal
- Jeremiah 11:15 = sacrificial meat
- Jeremiah 11:15 LXX; MT reads meat pass from you
- Jeremiah 11:16 Vg; MT reads broken
- Jeremiah 11:19 Or pet
- Jeremiah 11:19 Lit bread
- Jeremiah 11:20 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 12:2 Lit are near in their mouth
- Jeremiah 12:2 Lit kidneys
- Jeremiah 12:4 LXX reads see our ways
- Jeremiah 12:5 Or you are secure
- Jeremiah 12:9 Hb obscure
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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