Jeremiah 9
9Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.H5414H7218H4325H5869H4726H1832H1058H3119H3915H2491H1323H59712Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.H5414H4057H4411H732H5800H5971H3212H5003H6116H8983"They make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me," declares the LORD.H1869H3956H7198H8267H1396H530H776H3318H7451H7451H3045H5002H30684"Beware of your friends; do not trust any of your people. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.H8104H376H7453H982H251H251H6117H6117H7453H1980H74005Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning.H2048H376H7453H1696H571H3925H3956H1696H8267H3811H57536You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me," declares the LORD.H3427H8432H4820H4820H3985H3045H5002H30687Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: "See, I will refine and test them, for what else can I do because of the sin of my people?H559H3068H6635H6884H974H6213H6440H1323H59718Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.H3956H2671H7819H1696H4820H1696H7965H7453H6310H7130H7760H6969Should I not punish them for this?" declares the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?"H6485H5002H3068H5315H5358H147110I will weep and wail for the mountains and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands. They are desolate and untraveled, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. The birds have all fled and the animals are gone.H2022H5375H1065H5092H4999H4057H7015H3341H376H5674H8085H6963H4735H5775H8064H929H5074H198011"I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals; and I will lay waste the towns of Judah so no one can live there."H5414H3389H1530H4583H8577H5414H5892H3063H8077H342712Who is wise 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?H2450H376H995H6310H3068H1696H5046H776H6H3341H4057H567413The LORD said, "It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.H3068H559H5800H8451H5414H6440H8085H6963H198014Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them."H3212H310H8307H3820H310H1168H1H392515Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H398H5971H3939H4325H7219H824816I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them."H6327H1471H1H3045H7971H2719H310H361517This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come; send for the most skillful of them.H559H3068H6635H995H7121H6969H935H7971H2450H93518Let them come quickly and wail over us till our eyes overflow with tears and water streams from our eyelids.H4116H5375H5092H5869H3381H1832H6079H5140H432519The sound of wailing is heard from Zion: 'How ruined we are! How great is our shame! We must leave our land because our houses are in ruins.' "H6963H5092H8085H6726H7703H3966H954H5800H776H4908H799320Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD; open your ears to the words of his mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail; teach one another a lament.H8085H1697H3068H802H241H3947H1697H6310H3925H1323H5092H802H7468H701521Death has climbed in through our windows and has entered our fortresses; it has removed the children from the streets and the youths from the public squares.H4194H5927H2474H935H759H3772H5768H2351H970H733922Say, "This is what the LORD declares: " 'Dead bodies will lie like dung on the open field, like cut grain behind the reaper, with no one to gather them.' "H1696H5002H3068H5038H120H5307H1828H6440H7704H5995H310H7114H62223This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,H559H3068H2450H1984H2451H1368H1984H1369H6223H1984H623924but let those who boast boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.H1984H1984H7919H3045H3068H6213H2617H4941H6666H776H2654H5002H306825"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—H3117H935H5002H3068H6485H4135H619026Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."H4714H3063H123H1121H5983H4124H7112H6285H3427H4057H1471H6189H1004H3478H6189H3820
Columbus, OH
