Online Bible

A Lament over Zion

^aOh that my head were watersAnd my eyes a fountain of tears,That I might weep day and nightFor the slain of the ^bdaughter of my people!2 ^aOh that I had in the wildernessA lodging place (a mere shelter) for wayfaring men,That I might leave my peopleAnd go away from them!For they are all ^badulterers worshiping idols instead of the LORD,They are an assembly of ^ctreacherous men of weak character, men without integrity.3 “They ^abend their tongue like their bow;Their lies and not truth prevail and grow strong in the land;For they ^bproceed from evil to evil,And they ^cdo not know and understand and acknowledge Me,” says the LORD.4 “Let everyone ^abeware of his neighborAnd ^bdo not trust any brother.For every ^cbrother is a supplanter like Jacob, a deceiver, ready to grab his brother’s heel,And every neighbor ^dgoes around as a slanderer. Gen 25:265 “Everyone ^adeceives and mocks his neighborAnd does not speak the truth.They have taught their tongue to speak lies;They ^bexhaust themselves with sin and cruelty.6 “Your ^adwelling is in the midst of deceit oppression upon oppression and deceit upon deceit;Through deceit they ^brefuse to know (understand) Me,” says the LORD.

7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts,“Behold, I will refine them through suffering and ^atest them;For ^bhow else should I deal with the daughter of My people?

8 “Their ^atongue is a murderous arrow;It speaks deceit;With his mouth one ^bspeaks peace to his neighbor,But in his heart he ^clays traps and waits in ambush for him.9 “^aShall I not punish them for these things?” says the LORD.“Shall I not avenge MyselfOn such a nation as this?

10 “I will take up a weeping and wailing for the ^amountains,And a funeral dirge for the pastures of the ^bwilderness,Because they are ^cburned up and desolated so that no one passes through them;Nor can anyone hear the lowing of cattle.Both the ^dbirds of the air and the beasts have fled; they are gone.11 “I will make Jerusalem a ^aheap of ruins,A haunt and dwelling place of ^bjackals;And I will make the cities of Judah a ^cdesolation, without inhabitant.”

12 Who is the ^awise man who may understand this without any doubt? To whom has ^bthe mouth of the LORD spoken, so that he may declare it? ^cWhy is the land ruined, laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 The LORD said, “Because they have ¹^aturned away from My law which I set before them, and have not listened to and obeyed My voice nor walked in accordance with it, 14 but have ^awalked stubbornly after their own heart and after the ^bBaals, as their ^cfathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, ^aI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them bitter and ^bpoisonous water to drink. 16 I will also ^ascatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the ^bsword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17 Thus says the LORD of hosts,“Consider and call for the ^amourning women to come;Send for the ^bwailing women to come.

18 “Let them hurry and take up a wailing for us,That our ^aeyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.19 “For a sound of ^awailing is heard coming from Zion:‘^bHow we are ruined!We are greatly perplexed and utterly shamed,Because we have ^cleft the land,Because they have torn down our dwellings.’”20 Now hear the word of the LORD, O you ^awomen,And let your ear hear the word of His mouth;Teach your daughters a song of mourning,And each one teach her neighbor a dirge.21 For ^adeath has come up through our windows;It has entered our palaces,Cutting off the ^bchildren from the streetsAnd the young men from the town squares.22 Speak, “Thus says the LORD,‘The dead bodies of men will fall ^alike dung on the open field,And like sheaves of grain behind the reaper,And no one will gather them.’” Jer 8:2

23 Thus says the LORD, “^aLet not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is ^bmighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is ^crich boast in his temporal satisfactions and earthly abundance; 24 but let the one who boasts ^aboast in this, that he understands and knows Me and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt, that I am the LORD who ^bpractices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I ^cdelight,” says the LORD. 1+@Cor 1:31; 2+@Cor 10:17

25 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised physically and yet ^auncircumcised spiritually— Rom 2:25-29 26 ¹Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and ^aall those who live in the desert who clip off the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised (sinful, impure) , and all the house of Israel are ^buncircumcised in heart.”

A Lament over Zion

¹^aOh that my head were watersAnd my eyes a fountain of tears,That I might weep day and nightFor the slain of the ^bdaughter of my people!2 ¹^aOh that I had in the desertA wayfarers’ lodging place;That I might leave my peopleAnd go from them!For all of them are ^badulterers,An assembly of ^ctreacherous men.3 “They ^abend their tongue like their bow;Lies and not truth prevail in the land;For they ^bproceed from evil to evil,And they ^cdo not know Me,” declares the LORD.4 “Let everyone ^abe on guard against his neighbor,And ^bdo not trust any brother;Because every ^cbrother deals ¹craftily,And every neighbor ^dgoes about as a slanderer.5 “Everyone ^adeceives his neighborAnd does not speak the truth,They have taught their tongue to speak lies;They ^bweary themselves committing iniquity.6 “Your ^adwelling is in the midst of deceit;Through deceit they ^brefuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts,“Behold, I will refine them and ^aassay them;For ^bwhat else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

8 “Their ^atongue is a deadly arrow;It speaks deceit;With his mouth one ^bspeaks peace to his neighbor,But inwardly he ^csets an ambush for him.9 “^aShall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD.“On a nation such as thisShall I not avenge Myself?

10 “For the ^amountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,And for the pastures of the ^bwilderness a dirge,Because they are ^claid waste so that no one passes through,And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;Both the ^dbirds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.11 “I will make Jerusalem a ^aheap of ruins,A haunt of ^bjackals;And I will make the cities of Judah a ^cdesolation, without inhabitant.”

12 Who is the ^awise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom ^bthe mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? ^cWhy is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The LORD said, “Because they have ^aforsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have ^awalked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the ^bBaals, as their ^cfathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, ^aI will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them ^bpoisoned water to drink. 16 I will ^ascatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^bsword after them until I have annihilated them.”

17 Thus says the LORD of hosts,“Consider and call for the ^amourning women, that they may come;And send for the ¹^bwailing women, that they may come!

18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,That our ^aeyes may shed tearsAnd our eyelids flow with water.19 “For a voice of ^awailing is heard from Zion,‘^bHow are we ruined!We are put to great shame,For we have ^cleft the land,Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”20 Now hear the word of the LORD, O you ^awomen,And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;Teach your daughters wailing,And everyone her neighbor a dirge.21 For ^adeath has come up through our windows;It has entered our palacesTo cut off the ^bchildren from the streets,The young men from the town squares.22 Speak, “Thus says the LORD,‘The corpses of men will fall ^alike dung on the open field,And like the sheaf after the reaper,But no one will gather them.’”

23 Thus says the LORD, “^aLet not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the ^bmighty man boast of his might, let not a ^crich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts ^aboast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who ^bexercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I ^cdelight in these things,” declares the LORD.

25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet ^auncircumcised— 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and ^aall those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are ^buncircumcised of heart.”