Jeremiah 9:17-11

New International Version

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(A) 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.^(B)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(C) 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.^(D)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(E)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(F)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(G) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(H) 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^(I)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(J)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(K)
²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^(L) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(M) me,
that I am the Lord,^(N) who exercises kindness,^(O)
    justice and righteousness^(P) 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^(Q)— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^[a]^(R) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^(S) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^(T)”

God and Idols^(U)

10 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nations^(V)
    or be terrified by signs^(W) in the heavens,
    though the nations are terrified by them.
³For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
    they cut a tree out of the forest,
    and a craftsman^(X) shapes it with his chisel.^(Y)
⁴They adorn it with silver^(Z) and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so it will not totter.^(AA)
⁵Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
    their idols cannot speak;^(AB)
they must be carried
    because they cannot walk.^(AC)
Do not fear them;
    they can do no harm^(AD)
    nor can they do any good.”^(AE)

⁶No one is like you,^(AF) Lord;
    you are great,^(AG)
    and your name is mighty in power.
⁷Who should not fear^(AH) you,
    King of the nations?^(AI)
    This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms,
    there is no one like you.

⁸They are all senseless^(AJ) and foolish;^(AK)
    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.^(AL)
⁹Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish^(AM)
    and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made^(AN)
    is then dressed in blue and purple—
    all made by skilled workers.
¹⁰But the Lord is the true God;
    he is the living God,^(AO) the eternal King.^(AP)
When he is angry,^(AQ) the earth trembles;^(AR)
    the nations cannot endure his wrath.^(AS)

¹¹“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish^(AT) from the earth and from under the heavens.’”^[b]

¹²But God made^(AU) the earth^(AV) by his power;
    he founded the world by his wisdom^(AW)
    and stretched out the heavens^(AX) by his understanding.
¹³When he thunders,^(AY) the waters in the heavens roar;
    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning^(AZ) with the rain^(BA)
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.^(BB)

¹⁴Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is shamed^(BC) by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;^(BD)
    they have no breath in them.
¹⁵They are worthless,^(BE) the objects of mockery;
    when their judgment comes, they will perish.
¹⁶He who is the Portion^(BF) of Jacob is not like these,
    for he is the Maker of all things,^(BG)
including Israel, the people of his inheritance^(BH)—
    the Lord Almighty is his name.^(BI)

Coming Destruction

¹⁷Gather up your belongings^(BJ) to leave the land,
    you who live under siege.
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
    “At this time I will hurl^(BK) out
    those who live in this land;
I will bring distress^(BL) on them
    so that they may be captured.”

¹⁹Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound^(BM) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure^(BN) it.”
²⁰My tent^(BO) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;^(BP)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
²¹The shepherds^(BQ) are senseless^(BR)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;^(BS)
so they do not prosper^(BT)
    and all their flock is scattered.^(BU)
²²Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!^(BV)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^(BW)
    a haunt of jackals.^(BX)

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps.^(BY)
²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger,^(BZ)
    or you will reduce me to nothing.^(CA)
²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations^(CB)
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name.^(CC)
For they have devoured^(CD) Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.^(CE)

The Covenant Is Broken

11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Listen to the terms of this covenant^(CF) and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. ³Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed^(CG) is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— ⁴the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,^(CH) out of the iron-smelting furnace.^(CI)’ I said, ‘Obey^(CJ) me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people,^(CK) and I will be your God. ⁵Then I will fulfill the oath I swore^(CL) to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’^(CM)—the land you possess today.”

I answered, “Amen,^(CN) Lord.”

⁶The Lord said to me, “Proclaim^(CO) all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow^(CP) them. ⁷From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again,^(CQ) saying, “Obey me.” ⁸But they did not listen or pay attention;^(CR) instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.^(CS) So I brought on them all the curses^(CT) of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.^(CU)’”

⁹Then the Lord said to me, “There is a conspiracy^(CV) among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have returned to the sins of their ancestors,^(CW) who refused to listen to my words.^(CX) They have followed other gods^(CY) to serve them.^(CZ) Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant^(DA) I made with their ancestors. ¹¹Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster^(DB) they cannot escape.^(DC) Although they cry^(DD) out to me, I will not listen^(DE) to them. ¹²The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense,^(DF) but they will not help them at all when disaster^(DG) strikes. ¹³You, Judah, have as many gods^(DH) as you have towns;^(DI) and the altars you have set up to burn incense^(DJ) to that shameful^(DK) god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’

¹⁴“Do not pray^(DL) for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen^(DM) when they call to me in the time of their distress.

¹⁵“What is my beloved doing in my temple
    as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
    Can consecrated meat^(DN) avert your punishment?^(DO)
When you engage in your wickedness,
    then you rejoice.^[c]”

¹⁶The Lord called you a thriving olive tree^(DP)
    with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
    he will set it on fire,^(DQ)
    and its branches will be broken.^(DR)

¹⁷The Lord Almighty, who planted^(DS) you, has decreed disaster^(DT) for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused^(DU) my anger by burning incense to Baal.^(DV)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads
Jeremiah 10:11 The text of this verse is in Aramaic.
Jeremiah 11:15 Or Could consecrated meat avert your punishment? / Then you would rejoice