Jeremiah

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!

1I wish my head were full of water and my eyes were a spring of tears. Then I could cry day and night for my people who were killed.

2Oh 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.

2I wish I had a traveler's shelter out in the desert. Then I would leave my people and go away from them. They all break their marriage promises. They are a crowd of people no one can trust.

3And 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.

3"They bend their tongues like a bow and shoot lies. In this land, lies win and truth loses. They go from one evil to the next, and they pay no attention to me," says the LORD.

4Take 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.

4"Watch out for your neighbor. Do not trust even your own brother. Every brother is a cheat, and every neighbor goes around spreading lies about people.

5And 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.

5Each one fools his friend. No one tells the truth. They have trained their tongues to lie. They wear themselves out doing wrong.

6Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD.

6You live surrounded by lies. Because they love their lies, they refuse to know me," says the LORD.

7Therefore 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?

7So the LORD of Armies says this: "Look, I will melt them down like metal and test them. What else can I do about my people?

NoteThe KJV says "LORD of hosts." Back then "hosts" meant armies, not people who welcome guests. The title means the LORD who commands the armies of heaven.

8Their 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.

8Their tongues are arrows shot to kill, and their words trick people. A man speaks kindly to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.

9Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

9Should I not punish them for these things?" says the LORD. "Should I not pay back a nation like this?"

10For 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.

10I will cry and wail for the mountains. I will sing a sad song for the open grasslands. They are burned, so no one travels through them. No one hears the cattle calling. The birds of the sky and the wild animals have all run away.

11And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

11"I will turn Jerusalem into a pile of rubble, a place where jackals live. I will leave the towns of Judah empty, with no one living in them."

12Who 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?

12Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has heard the LORD speak, so that he can explain it? Why is the land ruined and burned like a desert, so no one can pass through?

13And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

13The LORD answered, "It is because they turned away from my law, the law I gave them. They did not obey my voice or live by it.

14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:

14Instead they followed their own stubborn hearts. They went after the Baals, the false gods their fathers taught them to serve."

15Therefore 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.

15So the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: "Look, I will feed this people wormwood. I will give them poisoned water to drink.

NoteWormwood is a plant with an extremely bitter taste. Being fed wormwood is a picture of a life turned bitter.

16I 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.

16I will scatter them among nations that they and their fathers never knew. I will send war after them until they are finished."

17Thus 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:

17The LORD of Armies says: "Pay attention. Call for the mourning women to come. Send for the women who are most skilled at it.

NoteMourning women were paid singers, hired to lead the crying at a funeral. Calling for them means the city is about to hold a funeral for itself.

18And 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.

18Tell them to hurry and sing a sad song for us, until our eyes overflow with tears and water pours from our eyelids."

19For 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.

19A sound of crying is heard from Zion: "We are ruined! We are covered with shame! We have left our land, because our homes have been torn down."

20Yet 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.

20Now listen to the word of the LORD, you women. Open your ears to what he says. Teach your daughters how to wail, and teach each other the songs of sorrow.

21For 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.

21Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered our strong houses. It takes the children from the streets and the young men from the town squares.

22Speak, 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.

22Say this: The LORD says, "The dead bodies of men will lie like manure in an open field. They will lie like grain the harvester cut and left behind, and no one will gather them."

23Thus 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:

23The LORD says: "The wise man must not brag about being wise. The strong man must not brag about being strong. The rich man must not brag about being rich.

24But 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.

24But if anyone brags, let him brag about this: that he understands me and knows me. I am the LORD. I show faithful love, and I do what is fair and right on the earth. These are the things I delight in," says the LORD.

25Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;

25"Look, the days are coming," says the LORD, "when I will punish everyone who is circumcised in the body but is still uncircumcised inside.

NoteCircumcision was a small cutting of the skin done to Israelite boys as a sign that they belonged to God's people. "Uncircumcised in heart" means the inside of a person never matched that outward sign.

26Egypt, 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.

26That means Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the desert people who cut the hair at the sides of their heads. All these nations are uncircumcised. And every person in Israel has an uncircumcised heart."