1 I wish that my eyes
were fountains of tears,
so I could cry day and night
for my people
who were killed.
2 I wish I could go into the desert
and find a hiding place
from all who are treacherous
and unfaithful to God.
The Lord Answers Jeremiah
3 The Lord replied:
Lies come from the mouths
of my people,
like arrows from a bow.
With each dishonest deed
their power increases,
and not one of them will admit
that I am God.
4 Jeremiah, all your friends
and relatives
tell lies about you,
so don't trust them.
5 They wear themselves out,
always looking for a new way
to cheat their friends.
6 Everyone takes advantage
of everyone else,
and no one will admit
that I am God.
7 And so I will purify
the hearts of my people
just as gold is purified
in a furnace.
I have no other choice.
8 They say they want peace,
but this lie is deadly,
like an arrow that strikes
when you least expect it.
9 Give me one good reason
not to punish them
as they deserve.
I, the Lord All-Powerful,
have spoken.
Jeremiah Weeps for His People
10 I weep for the pastureland
in the hill country.
It's so barren and scorched
that no one travels there.
No cattle can be found there,
and birds and wild animals
have all disappeared.
11 I heard the Lord reply,
“When I am finished,
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah
will be piles of ruins
where only jackals live.”
Why the Land Was Destroyed
12 I said to the Lord, “None of us can understand why the land has become like an uncrossable desert. Won't you explain why?”
13 The Lord said:
I destroyed the land because the people disobeyed me and rejected my laws and teachings. 14 They were stubborn and worshiped Baal, just as their ancestors did. 15 So I, the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, promise them poison to eat and drink. 16 I'll scatter them in foreign countries that they and their ancestors have never even heard of. Finally, I will send enemy soldiers to kill every last one of them.
The Women Who Are Paid To Weep
17 The Lord All-Powerful said,
“Make arrangements now
for the women who are paid
to weep at funerals,
especially the women
who can cry the loudest.”
18 The people answered,
“Let them come quickly
and cry for us,
until our own eyes
are flooded with tears.
19 Now those of us on Zion cry,
‘We are ruined!
We can't stand the shame.
Our homes have been destroyed,
and we must leave our land.’
20 “We ask you women
to pay attention
to what the Lord says.
We will teach you a funeral song
that you can teach
your daughters and friends:
21 ‘We were in our fortress,
but death sneaked in
through our windows.
It even struck down
children at play
and our strongest young men.’
22 “The Lord has told us
the ground will be covered
with dead bodies,
like ungathered stalks of grain
or manure in a field.”
What the Lord Likes Best
23 The Lord says:
Don't brag about your wisdom
or strength or wealth.
24 If you feel you must brag,
then have enough sense
to brag about worshiping me,
the Lord.
What I like best
is showing kindness,
justice, and mercy
to everyone on earth.
25-26 Someday I will punish the nations of Egypt, Edom, Ammon, and Moab, and the tribes of the desert. The men of these nations are circumcised, but they don't worship me. And it's the same with you people of Judah. Your bodies are circumcised, but your hearts are unchanged.
1 Oh, that mine head were full of water and mine eyes a fountaine of teares, that I might weepe day and night for the slayne of the daughter of my people. 2 Oh, that I had in the wildernes a cottage of wayfaring men, that I might leaue my people, and go from them: for they be all adulterers and an assembly of rebels, 3 And they bende their tongues like their bowes for lyes: but they haue no courage for the trueth vpon the earth: for they proceede from euill to worse, and they haue not knowen mee, sayth the Lord. 4 Let euery one take heede of his neighbour, and trust you not in any brother: for euery brother will vse deceite, and euery friend will deale deceitfully, 5 And euery one wil deceiue his friende, and wil not speake the trueth: for they haue taught their tongues to speake lies, and take great paynes to do wickedly. 6 Thine habitation is in the middes of deceiuers: because of their deceit they refuse to know me, sayth the Lord. 7 Therefore thus sayth the Lord of hostes, Behold, I wil melt them, and trie them: for what should I els do for the daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue is as an arow shot out, and speaketh deceite: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart hee layeth waite for him. 9 Shal I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this? 10 Vpon the mountaines will I take vp a weeping and a lamentation, and vpon the fayre places of the wildernes a mourning, because they are burnt vp: so that none can passe through them, neyther can men heare the voyce of the flocke: both the foule of the aire, and the beast are fled away and gone. 11 And I wil make Ierusalem an heape, and a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Iudah waste, without an inhabitant. 12 Who is wise, to vnderstande this? and to whome the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, euen he shall declare it. Why doth the land perish, and is burnt vp like a wildernesse, that none passeth through? 13 And the Lord sayeth, Because they haue forsaken my Lawe, which I set before them, and haue not obeyed my voice, neither walked thereafter, 14 But haue walked after the stubbernesse of their owne heart, and after Baalims, which their fathers taught them, 15 Therefore thus sayth the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feede this people with wormewood, and giue them waters of gall to drinke: 16 I wil scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers haue knowen, and I will send a sworde after them, til I haue consumed them. 17 Thus sayeth the Lord of hostes, Take heede, and call for the mourning women, that they may come, and send for skilfull women that they may come, 18 And let them make haste, and let them take vp a lamentation for vs, that our eyes may cast out teares and our eye liddes gush out of water. 19 For a lamentable noyse is heard out of Zion, Howe are we destroyed, and vtterly confounded, for we haue forsaken the land, and our dwellings haue cast vs out. 20 Therefore heare the worde of the Lord, O ye women, and let your eares regard the words of his mouth, and teach your daughters to mourne, and euery one her neighbour to lament. 21 For death is come vp into our windowes, and is entred into our palaces, to destroy the children without, and the yong men in the streetes. 22 Speake, thus sayth the Lord, The carkeises of men shall lye, euen as the doung vpon the fielde, and as the handfull after the mower, and none shall gather them. 23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisedome, nor the strong man glorie in his strength, neyther the riche man glorie in his riches. 24 But let him that glorieth, glorie in this, that he vnderstandeth, and knoweth me: for I am the Lord, which shewe mercie, iudgement, and righteousnes in the earth: for in these things I delite, sayth the Lord. 25 Beholde, the dayes come, sayth the Lord, that I wil visite all them, which are circumcised with the vncircumcised: 26 Egypt and Iudah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all the vtmost corners of them that dwell in the wildernesse: for all these nations are vncircumcised, and al the house of Israel are vncircumcised in the heart.