Jeremiah 9:1-16
If my head were a flowing spring,
my eyes a fountain of tears,
I would weep day and night
over the slain of my dear[fn] people.
2 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,
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.
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.
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.
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.[fn]
In their deception they refuse to know me.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
7 Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies says:
I am about to refine them and test them,
for what else can I do
because of my dear[fn] people?[fn]
8 Their tongues are deadly arrows —
they speak deception.
With his mouth
one 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
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,
everything has fled — they have gone away.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den.
I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
an uninhabited place.
12 Who is the person wise enough to understand this? 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, which I set before them, and did not obey my voice or walk according to it. 14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed the Baals as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore, this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to feed this people wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations that they and their ancestors have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”
For deeper study: David Guzik Commentary
