Jeremiah:9-11

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* 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 ! * Oh 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 . * And 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 . * Take 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 . * And 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 . * Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit ; through deceit they refuse to know me , saith the LORD . * Therefore 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 ? * Their 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 . * Shall I not visit them for these things ? saith the LORD : shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? * For 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 . * And I will make Jerusalem heaps , and a den of dragons ; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate , without an inhabitant . * Who 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 ? * And the LORD saith , Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them , and have not obeyed my voice , neither walked therein ; * But have walked after the imagination of their own heart , and after Baalim , which their fathers taught them : * Therefore 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 . * I 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 . * Thus 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 : * And 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 . * For 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 . * Yet 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 . * For 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 . * Speak , 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 . * Thus 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 : * But 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 . * Behold , the days come , saith the LORD , that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised ; * Egypt , 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 . * Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you , O house of Israel : * Thus saith the LORD , Learn not the way of the heathen , and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ; for the heathen are dismayed at them . * For the customs of the people are vain : for one cutteth a tree out of the forest , the work of the hands of the workman , with the axe . * They deck it with silver and with gold ; they fasten it with nails and with hammers , that it move not . * They are upright as the palm tree , but speak not : they must needs be borne , because they cannot go . Be not afraid of them ; for they cannot do evil , neither also is it in them to do good . * Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee , O LORD ; thou art great , and thy name is great in might . * Who would not fear thee , O King of nations ? for to thee doth it appertain : forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations , and in all their kingdoms , there is none like unto thee . * But they are altogether brutish and foolish : the stock is a doctrine of vanities . * Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish , and gold from Uphaz , the work of the workman , and of the hands of the founder : blue and purple is their clothing : they are all the work of cunning men . * But the LORD is the true God , he is the living God , and an everlasting king : at his wrath the earth shall tremble , and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation . * Thus shall ye say unto them , The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth , even they shall perish from the earth , and from under these heavens . * He hath made the earth by his power , he hath established the world by his wisdom , and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion . * When he uttereth his voice , there is a multitude of waters in the heavens , and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth ; he maketh lightnings with rain , and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures . * Every man is brutish in his knowledge : every founder is confounded by the graven image : for his molten image is falsehood , and there is no breath in them . * They are vanity , and the work of errors : in the time of their visitation they shall perish . * The portion of Jacob is not like them : for he is the former of all things ; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance : The LORD of hosts is his name . * Gather up thy wares out of the land , O inhabitant of the fortress . * For thus saith the LORD , Behold , I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once , and will distress them , that they may find it so . * Woe is me for my hurt ! my wound is grievous : but I said , Truly this is a grief , and I must bear it . * My tabernacle is spoiled , and all my cords are broken : my children are gone forth of me , and they are not : there is none to stretch forth my tent any more , and to set up my curtains . * For the pastors are become brutish , and have not sought the LORD : therefore they shall not prosper , and all their flocks shall be scattered . * Behold , the noise of the bruit is come , and a great commotion out of the north country , to make the cities of Judah desolate , and a den of dragons . * O LORD , I know that the way of man is not in himself : it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps . * O LORD , correct me , but with judgment ; not in thine anger , lest thou bring me to nothing . * Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not , and upon the families that call not on thy name : for they have eaten up Jacob , and devoured him , and consumed him , and have made his habitation desolate . * The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD , saying , * Hear ye the words of this covenant , and speak unto the men of Judah , and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; * And say thou unto them , Thus saith the LORD God of Israel ; Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant , * Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt , from the iron furnace , saying , Obey my voice , and do them , according to all which I command you : so shall ye be my people , and I will be your God : * That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers , to give them a land flowing with milk and honey , as it is this day . Then answered I , and said , So be it , O LORD . * Then the LORD said unto me , Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah , and in the streets of Jerusalem , saying , Hear ye the words of this covenant , and do them . * For I earnestly protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt , even unto this day , rising early and protesting , saying , Obey my voice . * Yet they obeyed not , nor inclined their ear , but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart : therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant , which I commanded them to do ; but they did them not . * And the LORD said unto me , A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah , and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem . * They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers , which refused to hear my words ; and they went after other gods to serve them : the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their fathers . * Therefore thus saith the LORD , Behold , I will bring evil upon them , which they shall not be able to escape ; and though they shall cry unto me , I will not hearken unto them . * Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go , and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense : but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble . * For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods , O Judah ; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing , even altars to burn incense unto Baal . * Therefore pray not thou for this people , neither lift up a cry or prayer for them : for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble . * What hath my beloved to do in mine house , seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many , and the holy flesh is passed from thee ? when thou doest evil , then thou rejoicest . * The LORD called thy name , A green olive tree , fair , and of goodly fruit : with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it , and the branches of it are broken . * For the LORD of hosts , that planted thee , hath pronounced evil against thee , for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah , which they have done against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering incense unto Baal . * And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it , and I know it : then thou shewedst me their doings . * But I was like a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter ; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me , saying , Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof , and let us cut him off from the land of the living , that his name may be no more remembered . * But , O LORD of hosts , that judgest righteously , that triest the reins and the heart , let me see thy vengeance on them : for unto thee have I revealed my cause . * Therefore thus saith the LORD of the men of Anathoth , that seek thy life , saying , Prophesy not in the name of the LORD , that thou die not by our hand : * Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts , Behold , I will punish them : the young men shall die by the sword ; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine : * And there shall be no remnant of them : for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth , even the year of their visitation . * Righteous art thou , O LORD , when I plead with thee : yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments : Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ?

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