JEREMIAH 9 [†]  [1]  m Oh that my head were waters,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

for the slain of  j the daughter of my people!

2[†]  [2] Oh that I had in the desert

a travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all  n adulterers,

a company of  o treacherous men.

3[†]  p They bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong [3] in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

 q and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

4[†]  r Let everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every  s brother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor  t goes about as a slanderer.

5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity.

6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

 u they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.

7[†] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:

“Behold,  v I will refine them and  w test them,

for what else can I do,  j because of my people?

8[†]  x Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

 y it speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth  z each speaks peace to his neighbor,

but in his heart  a he plans an ambush for him.

9[†]  b Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10[†] “I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for  c the pastures of the wilderness,

 d because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

 e both the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone.

11  f I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

 g a lair of jackals,

 h and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant.”

12[†] i Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined  j and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13[†]And the LORD says:  k “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14but  l have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15[†]Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:  m Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them  n poisonous water to drink. 16[†] o I will scatter them among the nations  p whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will  q send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

17[†] Thus says the LORD of hosts:

 r “Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come;

18 let them make haste  s and raise a wailing over us,

 t that our eyes may run down with tears

and our eyelids flow with water.

19[†] For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

 u ‘How we are ruined!

We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

20[†] Hear, O women, the word of the LORD,

and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

teach to your daughters a lament,

and each to her neighbor a dirge.

21 For death has come up into our windows;

it has entered our palaces,

 v cutting off the children from the streets

and the young men from the squares.

22 Speak: “Thus declares the LORD,

 w ‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

like dung upon the open field,

 x like sheaves after the reaper,

and none shall gather them.’”

23[^][†]Thus says the LORD:  y “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24but  z let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  a For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

25[†]“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when  b I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 c Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and  d all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are  e uncircumcised in heart.”