Jeremiah 9

1Who will give me lodging in a deserted place, that I might leave my people and depart from them? For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.

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2'They bent their tongues like a bow. Falsehood, not faith, prevails in the land. For they went from evil to evil, and have not known Me.

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3Let each take heed to his neighbor, and not trust their brothers, for every brother will utterly deceive, and every friend will walk treacherously.

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4Each will mock at his friend and not speak the truth. Their tongue learns to speak lies, and they do wrong. They do not pause to turn back.

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5There is usury upon usury, deceit upon deceit. They are unwilling to know Me.'

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6Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will set them on fire and test them; I shall do so because of the evil of the daughter of My people.

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7Their tongue is a wounding arrow, and the words of their mouth are deceitful. One speaks peaceably to his neighbor, but has hatred in his heart.

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8Shall I not visit them for these things?' says the Lord. 'Shall not My soul take vengeance on such a people as this?

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9Take up a wailing on the mountains and a lamentation on the paths of the desert; for they cease from being a people. They do not hear the sound of existence from the birds of the sky, nor even from cattle. They were astonished; they were gone.

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10I will put Jerusalem into captivity, and it will become a dwelling place of serpents. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, beyond habitation.'

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11Who is a wise man? Let him understand this. Let him declare to you by the word of the Lord to him why the land was ravaged by fire, and became like a desert no one could pass through.

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12The Lord answered me, 'Because they forsook My law which I set before their face, and they did not hear My voice.

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13Instead, they walked after what pleased their evil heart, and after the idols their fathers taught them.'

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14Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Behold, I will feed them as a matter of necessity, and give them the water of bitterness to drink.

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15I will also scatter them among the Gentiles, amongst whom neither they nor their fathers are known. I shall send a sword after them until I consume them with it.'

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16Thus says the Lord: 'Call for the mourning women and let them come. Send for the wise women and let them give utterance.

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17Let them take up a lamentation over you. Let your eyes run with tears, and your eyelids flow with water.

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18For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion, 'How we have been afflicted and greatly ashamed, because we forsook the land and were cast out of our dwellings.' '

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19Indeed, O women, hear the word of God, and let your ear receive the words of His mouth. Teach your daughters wailing, and a woman a lamentation to all her neighbors.

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20For death will come through your windows and enter your land, to destroy the children from outside and the youth from the streets.

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21The dead men shall be as an example in the open country of your land, like grass after it is mowed, when there shall be none to gather it.

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22Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast in his might, nor let the rich man boast in his riches.'

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23Instead, let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows that I am the Lord, who shows mercy, judgment, and righteousness on earth, for in these is My will,' says the Lord.

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24'Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, 'that I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision.

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25I will visit Egypt, Judea, Edom, the sons of Ammon and the sons of Moab, and all who dwell in the desert—all who shave their face. For all these nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their heart.'

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