Jeremiah 9 - 10
91,aOh that my head were watersAnd my eyes a fountain of tears,That I might weep day and nightFor the slain of the bdaughter of my people!21,aOh that I had in the desertA travelers’ lodging place,That I might leave my peopleAnd go from them!For all of them are badulterers,A solemn assembly of ctreacherous men.3“They abend their tongue like their bow;Lies and unfaithfulness prevail in the land,For they bgo onward from evil to evil,And they cdo not know Me,” declares Yahweh.4“Let everyone abeware of his neighbor,And bdo not trust any brother,Because every cbrother 1surely supplants,And every neighbor dgoes about as a slanderer.5“Everyone adeceives his neighborAnd does not speak the truth;They have taught their tongue to speak lies;They bweary themselves committing iniquity.6“Your ahabitation is in the midst of deceit;Through deceit they brefuse to know Me,” declares Yahweh.
7Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Behold, I will refine them and atest them;For bwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
8“Their atongue is a slaughtering arrow;It speaks deceit;With his mouth one bspeaks peace to his neighbor,But inwardly he csets an ambush for him.9“aShall I not punish them for these things?” declares Yahweh.“On a nation such as thisShall I not avenge Myself?10“For the amountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,And for the pastures of the bwilderness a funeral lamentation,Because they are cturned into ruin so that no one passes through,And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;Both the dbirds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.11“I will make Jerusalem a aheap of ruins,A haunt of bjackals;And I will make the cities of Judah a cdesolation, without inhabitant.”12Who is the awise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom bthe mouth of Yahweh has spoken, that he may declare it? cWhy has the land perished, turned into ruin like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13Yahweh said, “Because they have aforsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to My voice nor walked according to it, 14but have awalked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the bBaals, as their cfathers taught them,” 15therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, aI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them 1,bpoisoned water to drink. 16“I will ascatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the bsword after them until I have consumed them.”
17Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Carefully consider and call for the amourning women, that they may come;And send for the 1,bskillful women, that they may come!
18“Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,That our aeyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.19“For a voice of awailing is heard from Zion,‘bHow we are destroyed!We are put to great shame,For we have cleft the landBecause they have cast down our dwellings.’”20Indeed, hear the word of Yahweh, O you awomen,And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;Teach your daughters wailing,And everyone her neighbor a funeral lamentation.21For adeath has come up through our windows;It has entered our palacesTo cut off the binfants from the streets,The choice men from the open squares.22Speak, “Thus declares Yahweh,‘The corpses of men will fall alike dung on the open fieldAnd like the sheaf after the reaper,But no one will gather them.’”23Thus says Yahweh, “aLet not a wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the bmighty man boast in his might; let not a crich man boast in his riches, 24but let him who boasts aboast in this, that he 1understands and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who bshows lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I cdelight in these things,” declares Yahweh.
25“Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet auncircumcised— 26Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and aall those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are buncircumcised of heart.”
Yahweh Alone Is the Living God
10Hear the word which Yahweh speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2Thus says Yahweh, “aDo not learn the way of the nations,And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavensAlthough the nations are terrified by them;
3For the statutes of the peoples are avanityBecause bit is wood cut from the forest,The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.4“They amake it beautiful with silver and with gold;They bstrengthen it with nails and with hammersSo that it will not totter.5“Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,And they acannot speak;They must be bcarriedBecause they cannot take a step!Do not fear them,For they ccan do no harm,Nor can they do any good.”6aThere is none like You, O Yahweh;You are bgreat, and great is Your name in might.7aWho would not fear You, O bKing of the nations?Indeed it is Your due!For among all the cwise men of the nationsAnd in all their kingdoms,There is none like You.8But they are altogether asenseless and foolish;They are in a discipline of 1vanities—it is mere wood!9Beaten asilver is brought from bTarshish,And cgold from Uphaz,The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;Blue and purple are their clothing;They are all the dwork of wise craftsmen.10But Yahweh is the atrue God;He is the bliving God and the ceverlasting King.At His wrath the dearth quakes,And the nations cannot eendure His indignation.111Thus you shall say to them, “The agods that did not make the heavens and the earth will bperish from the earth and from under 2the heavens.”
12It is aHe who made the earth by His power,Who bestablished the world by His wisdom;And by His understanding He has cstretched out the heavens.13When He gives forth His avoice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,And He causes the bclouds to ascend from the end of the earth;He makes lightning for the rain,And brings out the cwind from His storehouses.14Every man is asenseless, devoid of knowledge;Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven images;For his molten images are a lie,And there is no breath in them.15They are avanity, a work of mockery;In the btime of their punishment they will perish.16The aportion of Jacob is not like these;For the 1,bMaker of all is He,And cIsrael is the tribe of His inheritance;dYahweh of hosts is His name.17aGather up your bundle from the ground,You who inhabit a land under siege!18For thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am aslinging out the inhabitants of the landAt this time,And will cause them distress,That they may find it.”
19aWoe is me, because of my 1injury!My bwound is desperately sick.But I said, “Truly this is a sickness,And I cmust bear it.”20My atent is destroyed,And all my ropes are torn out;My bsons have gone from me and are no more.There is cno one to stretch out my tent againOr to set up my curtains.21For the shepherds have become senselessAnd ahave not sought Yahweh;Therefore they have not prospered,And ball their flock is scattered.22The sound of a areport! Behold, it comes—A great quaking bout of the land of the north—To cmake the cities of JudahA desolation, a haunt of jackals.23I know, O Yahweh, that aa man’s way is not in himself,bNor is it in a man who walks to 1direct his steps.24aDiscipline me, O Yahweh, but with justice;Not with Your anger, lest You 1bring me to nothing.25aPour out Your wrath on the nations that bdo not know YouAnd on the families that cdo not call Your name,For they have devoured Jacob;They have ddevoured him and consumed himAnd have made desolate his 1abode.