Jeremiah 9
9OH, THAT my head were waters and my eyes a reservoir of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!H5414H7218H4325H5869H4726H1832H1058H3119H3915H2491H1323H59712Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers [rendering worship to idols instead of to the Lord, Who has espoused the people to Himself]; they are a gang of treacherous men [faithless even to each other].H5414H4057H4411H732H5800H5971H3212H5003H6116H8983And they bend their tongue, [which is] their bow for the lies [they shoot]. And not according to faithfulness do they rule {and} become strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know {and} understand {and} acknowledge Me, says the Lord.H1869H3956H7198H8267H1396H530H776H3318H7451H7451H3045H5002H30684Let everyone beware of his neighbor and put no trust in any brother. For every brother is an utter {and} complete supplanter (one who takes by the heel and trips up, a deceiver, a Jacob), and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.H8104H376H7453H982H251H251H6117H6117H7453H1980H74005And they deceive {and} mock every one his neighbor and do not speak the truth. They have taught their tongues to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.H2048H376H7453H1696H571H3925H3956H1696H8267H3811H57536Your habitation is in the midst of deceit [oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit]; through deceit they refuse to know {and} understand Me, says the Lord.H3427H8432H4820H4820H3985H3045H5002H30687Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt them [by the process of affliction to remove the dross] and test them, for how else should I deal with the daughter of My people?H559H3068H6635H6884H974H6213H6440H1323H59718Their tongue is a murderous arrow; it speaks deceitfully; one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he lays snares and waits in ambush for him.H3956H2671H7819H1696H4820H1696H7965H7453H6310H7130H7760H6969Shall I not punish them for these things? says the Lord. Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?H6485H5002H3068H5315H5358H147110For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing and for the pastures of the wilderness a lament, because they are burned up {and} desolated, so that no one passes through [them]; neither can men hear [any longer] the lowing of cattle. Both the fowls of the air and the beasts have fled, they are gone!H2022H5375H1065H5092H4999H4057H7015H3341H376H5674H8085H6963H4735H5775H8064H929H5074H198011I will make Jerusalem heaps [of ruins], a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.H5414H3389H1530H4583H8577H5414H5892H3063H8077H342712Who is the wise man who may understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined {and} laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through it?H2450H376H995H6310H3068H1696H5046H776H6H3341H4057H567413And the Lord says, Because they have forsaken My law, which I set before them, and have not listened to {and} obeyed My voice or walked in accordance with itH3068H559H5800H8451H5414H6440H8085H6963H198014But have walked stubbornly after their own hearts and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,H3212H310H8307H3820H310H1168H1H392515Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them bitter {and} poisonous water to drink.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H398H5971H3939H4325H7219H824816I will scatter them also among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword among them {and} after them until I have consumed them.H6327H1471H1H3045H7971H2719H310H361517Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider and call for the mourning women to come; send for the skillful women to come.H559H3068H6635H995H7121H6969H935H7971H2450H93518Let them make haste and raise a wailing over us {and} for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush with water.H4116H5375H5092H5869H3381H1832H6079H5140H432519For a sound of wailing is heard [coming] out of Zion: How we are plundered {and} ruined! We are greatly confounded {and} utterly put to shame, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings [our dwellings that have cast us out].H6963H5092H8085H6726H7703H3966H954H5800H776H4908H799320Yet hear the word of the Lord, O you women, and let your ears receive the word of His mouth; teach your daughters a lament, and each one [teach] her neighbor a dirge.H8085H1697H3068H802H241H3947H1697H6310H3925H1323H5092H802H7468H701521For death has come up into our windows; it has entered into our palaces, cutting off the children from outdoors and the young men from the streets.H4194H5927H2474H935H759H3772H5768H2351H970H733922Speak, Thus says the Lord: The dead bodies of men shall fall like dung on the open field and like sheaves [of grain] behind the reaper, and none shall gather them.H1696H5002H3068H5038H120H5307H1828H6440H7704H5995H310H7114H62223Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise {and} skillful person glory {and} boast in his wisdom {and} skill; let not the mighty {and} powerful person glory {and} boast in his strength {and} power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory {and} boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches;H559H3068H2450H1984H2451H1368H1984H1369H6223H1984H623924But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.H1984H1984H7919H3045H3068H6213H2617H4941H6666H776H2654H5002H306825Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will punish all who though circumcised [outwardly, in the flesh] are still uncircumcised [in corresponding inward purity]--H3117H935H5002H3068H6485H4135H619026Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab [all of whom are related except Egypt], and all who live in the desert and who clip off the corners of their hair {and} beards; for all these nations are uncircumcised [in heart], and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.H4714H3063H123H1121H5983H4124H7112H6285H3427H4057H1471H6189H1004H3478H6189H3820
Columbus, OH
