If only I had a traveler’s lodging place
in the wilderness,(A)
I would abandon my people
and depart from them,
for they are all adulterers,(B)
a solemn assembly of treacherous people.(C)

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.(D)
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Imminent Ruin and Exile

Everyone has to be on guard against his friend.
Don’t trust any brother,
for every brother will certainly deceive,(E)
and every friend spread slander.(F)

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Oh, that I had in the desert(A)
    a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
    and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,(B)
    a crowd of unfaithful(C) people.

“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;(D)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge(E) me,”
declares the Lord.
“Beware of your friends;(F)
    do not trust anyone in your clan.(G)
For every one of them is a deceiver,[b](H)
    and every friend a slanderer.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth
  2. Jeremiah 9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob