Jeremiah 9; Jeremiah 10; Jeremiah 11

1 I wish my head were a spring of water! I wish my eyes were a fountain of tears! I would sob day and night over my people who have been killed.

2 I wish I had somewhere to go in the desert where a traveler could stay! Then I could leave my people. I could get away from them. All of them commit adultery by worshiping other gods. They aren't faithful to the Lord.

3 "They get ready to use their tongues like bows," announces the Lord. "Their mouths shoot out lies like arrows. They tell lies to gain power in the land. They go from one sin to another. They do not pay any attention to me.

4 Be on guard against your friends. Do not trust the members of your own family. Every one of them cheats. Every friend tells lies.

5 One friend cheats another. No one tells the truth. They have taught their tongues how to lie. They wear themselves out sinning.

6 Jeremiah, you live among people who tell lies. When they lie, they refuse to pay any attention to me," announces the Lord.

7 So the LORD who rules over all says, "I will put them through the fire to test them. What else can I do? My people are so sinful!

8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. They tell lies. With their mouths all of them speak kindly to their neighbors. But in their hearts they set traps for them.

9 Shouldn't I punish them for that?" announces the Lord. "Shouldn't I pay back the nation that does those things?"

10 I will cry and sob over the fields in the hills. I will sing a song of sadness about the desert grasslands. They are dry and empty. No one travels through them. The mooing of cattle isn't heard there. The birds of the air have flown away. All of the animals are gone.

11 The LORD says, "I will knock all of Jerusalem's buildings down. I will make it a home for wild dogs. The towns of Judah will be completely destroyed. No one will be able to live in them."

12 Who is wise enough to understand those things? Who has been taught by the Lord? Who can explain them? Why has the land been destroyed so completely? Why has it become like a desert that no one can go across?

13 The LORD answered me, "Because my people have turned away from my law. I gave it to them. But they have not kept it. They have not obeyed me.

14 Instead, they have done what their stubborn hearts wanted them to do. They have worshiped the gods that are named after Baal. They have done what their people have taught them to do down through the years."

15 So now the LORD who rules over all speaks. He is the God of Israel. He says, "I will make these people eat bitter food. I will make them drink poisoned water.

16 I will scatter them among the nations. They and their people before them have not had anything to do with those nations before. I will chase these people with swords. I will hunt them down until I have destroyed them."

17 The LORD rules over all. He says, "Here is something I want you to think about. Send for the women who sob over the dead. Send for the most skilled among them."

18 Let them come quickly and sob over us. Let them cry until tears flow from our eyes. Let them sob until water pours out of our eyes.

19 People are heard sobbing in Zion. They are saying, "We are destroyed! We are filled with shame! We must leave our land. Our houses have been torn down."

20 Women, hear the LORD's message. Listen to what he's saying. Teach your daughters how to sob over the dead. Teach one another a song of sadness.

21 Death has climbed in through our windows. It has entered our forts. It has removed the children from the streets. It has taken the young people out of the market places.

22 Say, "The LORD announces, " 'The dead bodies of men will be like trash lying in the open fields. They will lie there like grain that is cut down at harvest time. No one will gather them up.' "

23 The LORD says, "Do not let a wise man brag about how wise he is. Do not let a strong man boast about how strong he is. Do not let a rich person brag about how rich he is.

24 But here is what the one who brags should boast about. He should brag that he has understanding and knows me. I want him to know that I am the Lord. No matter what I do on earth, I am always kind, fair and right. And I take delight in that," announces the Lord.

25 "The days are coming when I will judge people," announces the Lord. "I will punish all those who are circumcised only in their bodies.

26 That includes the people of Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon and Moab. It also includes all those who live in the desert in places far away. None of the people in those nations is really circumcised. And not even the people of Israel are circumcised in their hearts."

1 People of Israel, listen to what the LORD is telling you.

2 He says, "Do not follow the practices of other nations. Do not be terrified by warnings in the sky. Do not be afraid, even though the nations are terrified by them.

3 The practices of those nations are worthless. People cut a tree out of the forest. A skilled worker shapes the wood with a sharp tool.

4 Others decorate it with silver and gold. They use a hammer to nail it to the floor. They want to keep it from falling down.

5 The statues of their gods can't speak. They are like scarecrows in a field of melons. They have to be carried around because they can't walk. So do not worship them. They can't do you any harm. And they can't do you any good either."

6 Lord, no one is like you. You are great. You are mighty and powerful.

7 King of the nations, everyone should have respect for you. That's what people should give you. Among all of the wise people in the nations there is no one like you. No one can compare with you in all of their kingdoms.

8 All of them are foolish. They don't have any sense. They think they are taught by worthless wooden gods.

9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish. Gold is brought from Uphaz. People who are skilled in working with wood and gold make a statue. Then they put blue and purple clothes on it. The whole thing is made by skilled workers.

10 But you are the only true God. You are the only living God. You are the King who rules forever. When you are angry, the earth trembles with fear. The nations can't stand up under your anger.

11 The LORD says to the Jews who are living in Babylonia, "Tell the people of the nations, 'Your gods did not make the heavens and the earth. In fact, those gods will disappear from the earth. They will vanish from under the heavens.' "

12 But God used his power to make the earth. His wisdom set the world in place. His understanding spread the heavens out.

13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar. He makes clouds rise from one end of the earth to the other. He sends lightning along with the rain. He brings the wind out from his storerooms.

14 No one has any sense. No one knows anything at all. Everyone who works with gold is put to shame by his wooden gods. The metal gods he worships are fakes. They can't even breathe.

15 They are worthless. People make fun of them. When the LORD judges them, they will be destroyed.

16 The God of Jacob is not like them. He gives his people everything they need. He made everything that exists. And that includes Israel. It's the nation that belongs to him. His name is The LORD Who Rules Over All.

17 People of Jerusalem, your enemies have surrounded you. They are attacking you. So gather up what belongs to you. Then leave the land.

18 The LORD says, "I am about to throw out of this land everyone who lives in it. I will bring trouble on them. They will be captured."

19 How terrible it will be for me! I've been wounded! And my wound can't be healed! In spite of that, I said to myself, "I'm sick. But I'll have to put up with it."

20 Jerusalem is like a tent that has been destroyed. All of its ropes have snapped. My people have gone away from me. Now no one is left to set up my tent. I have no one to set it up for me.

21 The leaders of my people are like shepherds who don't have any sense. They don't ask the LORD for advice. That's why they don't succeed. And that's why their whole flock is scattered like sheep.

22 Listen! A message is coming! I hear the sound of a great army marching down from the north! It will turn Judah's towns into a desert. They will become a home for wild dogs.

23 Lord, I know that a man doesn't control his own life. He doesn't direct his own steps.

24 Correct me, Lord. But please be fair. Don't correct me when you are angry. If you do, nothing will be left of me.

25 Pour out your burning anger on the nations. They don't pay any attention to you. They refuse to worship you. They have destroyed the people of Jacob. They've wiped them out completely. They've also destroyed the land they lived in.

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Listen to the terms of the covenant I made with my people long ago. Tell Judah the terms still apply to them. Tell those who live in Jerusalem that they must obey them too.

3 "I am the God of Israel. So let the people know what I want them to do. Tell them I am saying, 'May the man who does not obey the terms of the covenant be under my curse.

4 I gave those terms to your people long ago. That was when I brought them out of Egypt. I saved them out of that furnace that melts iron down and makes it pure.' I said, 'Obey me. Do everything I command you to do. Then you will be my people. And I will be your God.

5 " 'I raised my hand and made an oath to your people long ago. I promised them I would give them a land that had plenty of milk and honey.' It is the land you own today. I kept my promise." I replied, "Amen, Lord."

6 The LORD said to me, "Here is what I want you to announce in the towns of Judah. Say it also in the streets of Jerusalem. Tell the people, 'Listen to the terms of my covenant. Obey them.

7 Long ago I brought your people up from Egypt. From that time until today, I warned them again and again. I said, "Obey me."

8 " 'But they did not listen. They did not pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. So I brought down on them all of the curses of the covenant. I commanded them to obey it. But they refused.' "

9 The LORD continued, "The people of Judah have made some evil plans. So have those who live in Jerusalem.

10 All of them have returned to the sins their people committed long ago. Those people refused to listen to what I told them. And now the people of Israel and Judah alike have worshiped other gods and served them. They have broken the covenant I made with their people who lived before them.

11 "So I say, 'I will bring trouble on them. They will not be able to escape it. They will cry out to me. But I will not listen to them.

12 " 'The people of Jerusalem and of the towns of Judah will cry out to the gods they burn incense to. But those gods will not help them at all when trouble strikes them.

13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns. And in Jerusalem you have set up as many altars as there are streets. You are burning incense to that shameful god Baal.'

14 "Jeremiah, do not pray for those people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. They will call out to me when they are in trouble. But I will not listen to them.

15 "I love the people of Judah. But they are working out their evil plans along with many others. So what are they doing in my temple? Can meat that is offered to me keep me from punishing you? When you do evil things, you get a lot of pleasure from them."

16 People of Judah, the LORD once called you a healthy olive tree. He thought its fruit was beautiful. But now he will come with the roar of a mighty storm. He will set the tree on fire. And its branches will be broken.

17 The LORD who rules over all planted you. But now he has ordered your enemies to destroy you. The people of Israel and Judah have done what is evil. They have made the LORD very angry by burning incense to Baal.

18 The LORD told me about the evil plans of my enemies. That's how I knew about them. He showed me what they were doing.

19 I had been like a gentle lamb that was led off to be killed. I didn't realize they had made plans against me. They had said, "Let's destroy the tree and its fruit. Let's cut him off while he's still living. Then his name won't be remembered anymore."

20 But Lord, you rule over all. You always judge fairly. You put people's hearts and minds to the test. So pay them back for what they've done. I've committed my cause to you.

21 The LORD says, "Jeremiah, here is what I am telling you about the men of Anathoth. They want to kill you. They are saying, 'Don't prophesy in the LORD's name. If you do, we will kill you with our own hands.' "

22 So the LORD who rules over all says, "I will punish them. Their young men will be killed with swords. Their sons and daughters will die of hunger.

23 Only a few people will be left alive. I will judge the men of Anathoth. I will destroy them when the time to punish them comes."