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Jeremiah 9 New International Version (NIV)

9 ^[a]¹Oh, that my head were a spring of water
    and my eyes a fountain of tears!^(A)
I would weep^(B) day and night
    for the slain of my people.^(C)
²Oh, that I had in the desert^(D)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,^(E)
    a crowd of unfaithful^(F) people.

³“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;^(G)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph^[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge^(H) me,”
declares the Lord.
⁴“Beware of your friends;^(I)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.^(J)
For every one of them is a deceiver,^[c]^(K)
    and every friend a slanderer.^(L)
⁵Friend deceives friend,^(M)
    and no one speaks the truth.^(N)
They have taught their tongues to lie;^(O)
    they weary themselves with sinning.
⁶You^[d] live in the midst of deception;^(P)
    in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:

“See, I will refine^(Q) and test^(R) them,
    for what else can I do
    because of the sin of my people?
⁸Their tongue^(S) is a deadly arrow;
    it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,^(T)
    but in their hearts they set traps^(U) for them.^(V)
⁹Should I not punish them for this?”
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge^(W) myself
    on such a nation as this?”

¹⁰I will weep and wail for the mountains
    and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.^(X)
They are desolate and untraveled,
    and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds^(Y) have all fled
    and the animals are gone.

¹¹“I will make Jerusalem a heap^(Z) of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;^(AA)
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah^(AB)
so no one can live there.”^(AC)

¹²Who is wise^(AD) 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?

¹³The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.^(AE) ¹⁴Instead, they have followed^(AF) the stubbornness of their hearts;^(AG) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food^(AH) and drink poisoned water.^(AI) ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations^(AJ) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,^(AK) and I will pursue them with the sword^(AL) until I have made an end of them.”^(AM)

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(AN) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(AO)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(AP) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(AQ)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(AR)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(AS)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(AT) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(AU) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^(AV)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(AW)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(AX)
²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^(AY) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(AZ) me,
that I am the Lord,^(BA) who exercises kindness,^(BB)
    justice and righteousness^(BC) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

²⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh^(BD)— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^[e]^(BE) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^(BF) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^(BG)”

New International Version (NIV)