“1 Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my
people! 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring
men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they [be] all
adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 And they bend their
tongues [like] their bow [for] lies: but they are not valiant for the
truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know
not me, saith the LORD. 4 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and
trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant,
and every neighbour will walk with slanders. 5 And they will deceive
every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught
their tongue to speak lies, [and] weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6
Thine habitation [is] in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse
to know me, saith the LORD. 7 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts,
Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the
daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue [is as] an arrow shot out; it
speaketh deceit: [one] speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his
mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. 9 Shall I not visit them for
these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a
nation as this? 10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and
wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation,
because they are burned up, so that none can pass through [them];
neither can [men] hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the
heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. 11 And I will make
Jerusalem heaps, [and] a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of
Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.”
“12 Who [is] the wise man, that may understand this? and [who is he]
to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for
what the land perisheth [and] is burned up like a wilderness, that none
passeth through? 13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my
law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither
walked therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own
heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15 Therefore
thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed
them, [even] this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to
drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they
nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I
have consumed them. 17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and
call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning
[women], that they may come: 18 And let them make haste, and take up a
wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids
gush out with waters. 19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,
How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken
the land, because our dwellings have cast [us] out. 20 Yet hear the word
of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth,
and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour
lamentation. 21 For death is come up into our windows, [and] is entered
into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, [and] the young
men from the streets. 22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases
of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after
the harvestman, and none shall gather [them].”
“23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise [man] glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty [man] glory in his might, let not the rich [man]
glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the LORD which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these
[things] I delight, saith the LORD. 25 Behold, the days come, saith the
LORD, that I will punish all [them which are] circumcised with the
uncircumcised; 26 Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon,
and Moab, and all [that are] in the utmost corners, that dwell in the
wilderness: for all [these] nations [are] uncircumcised, and all the
house of Israel [are] uncircumcised in the heart.” (Jeremiah 9:1-26 AV)