Jeremiah 9

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Who wil find me a wayfarer's shelter in the desert, for me to quit my people, and leave them far behind?For al of them are adulterers, a conspiracy of traitors.	1 “Who will provide water for my head, and a fount of tears for my eyes? And then I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.
2 They bend their tongues like a bow; not truth but falsehood holds sway in the land; yes, they go fromcrime to crime, but me they do not know, Yahweh declares.	2 Who will provide me, in the wilderness, with a lodging place along the road? And then I will forsake my people, and withdraw from them. For they are all adulterers, a union of transgressors.
3 Let each be on his guard against his friend; do not trust a brother, for every brother aims but to supplant,and every friend is a peddler of slander.	3 And they have bent their tongue, like a bow, to send forth lies and not the truth. They have been strengthened upon the earth. And they have gone from one evil to another. But they have not known me, says the Lord.
4 Each one cheats his friend, never tel ing the truth; they have trained their tongues to lie and devote altheir energies to doing wrong.	4 Let each one guard himself against his neighbor, and let him have no trust in any brother of his. For every brother will utterly overthrow, and every friend will advance deceitfully.
5 You live in a world of bad faith! Out of bad faith, they refuse to know me, Yahweh declares.	5 And a man will deride his brother, and they will not speak the truth. For they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they have labored to commit iniquity.
6 And, so, Yahweh Sabaoth declares, now I shal purge them and test them, no other way to treat thedaughter of my people!	6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit. In their deceitfulness, they have refused to know me, says the Lord.”
7 Their tongue is a deadly arrow, their words are in bad faith; with his mouth each wishes his neighbourpeace, while in his heart plotting a trap for him.	7 Because of this, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them, and I will test them. For what else can I do before the face of the daughter of my people?
8 Shal I fail to punish them for this, Yahweh demands, or on such a nation fail to exact vengeance?	8 Their tongue is a wounding arrow; it has spoken deceit. With his mouth, he speaks peace with his friend, and then he secretly lies in ambush for him.
9 I raise the wail and lament for the mountains, the dirge for the desert pastures, for they have been burnt:no one passes there, the sound of flocks is heard no more. Birds of the sky and animals, al have fled, al aregone.	9 Shall I not visit upon them concerning these things, says the Lord? Or shall my soul not take vengeance on a nation of this kind?
10 I shal make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair for jackals, and the towns of Judah an uninhabitedwasteland.	10 I will take up weeping and lamentation over the mountains, and mourning over the beautiful places in the desert. For they have been scorched because no man is passing through them. And they have not heard the voice of any occupant. From the birds of the air, even to the cattle, they have migrated and withdrawn.
11 Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has Yahweh's mouth spoken to explain it? Why isthe country annihilated, burnt like the desert where no one passes?	11 And I will make Jerusalem into piles of sand and into a lair for serpents. And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, so much so that there will be no inhabitant.
12 Yahweh says, 'This is because they have forsaken my Law which I gave them and have not listened tomy voice or fol owed it,	12 Who is the wise man who understands this, and to whom a word from the mouth of the Lord may be given, so that he may announce this: why the land has perished, and has been scorched like a desert, so much so that no one passes through it?”
13 but have followed their own stubborn hearts, have fol owed the Baals as their ancestors taught them.'	13 And the Lord said: “It is because they have abandoned my law, which I gave to them, and they have not listened to my voice, and they have not walked by it.
14 So Yahweh Sabaoth, the God of Israel, says this, 'Now I shal give this people wormwood to eat andpoisoned water to drink.	14 And they have gone after the depravity of their own heart, and after Baal, which they learned from their fathers.”
15 I shal scatter them among nations unknown to their ancestors or to them; and I shal pursue them withthe sword until I have annihilated them.'	15 For this reason, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will feed this people with absinthe, and I will give them the water of gall to drink.
16 Yahweh Sabaoth says this, 'Prepare to cal for the mourning women! Send for those who are best at it!	16 And I will disperse them among nations, which they and their fathers have not known. And I will send the sword after them, until they are consumed.”
17 Let them lose no time in raising the lament over us! Let our eyes rain tears, our eyelids run withweeping!	17 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Consider and call upon the women mourners, and let them approach. And send to those women who are wise, and let them hurry.
18 A lament makes itself heard in Zion, "What ruin is ours, what utter shame! For we must leave thecountry, our homes have been knocked down!" '	18 ‘Let them hasten to take up a lamentation over us. Let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run with water.’
19 Now listen, you women, to Yahweh's word, let your ears take in the word his own mouth speaks. Teachyour daughters how to wail and teach one another this dirge,	19 For a voice of lamentation has been heard from Zion: ‘How is it that we have been devastated and greatly confounded? Our tabernacles have been thrown down because we have forsaken the land.’ ”
20 'Death has climbed in at our windows, and made its way into our palaces; it has cut down the childrenin the street, the young people in the squares-	20 “Therefore, listen, O women, to the word of the Lord! And let your ears take up the word of his mouth. And teach your daughters to lament. And let each one teach her neighbor to mourn:
21 Speak! Yahweh declares this -- human corpses are strewn like dung in the open field, like sheaves leftby the reaper, with no one to gather them.'	21 ‘For death has climbed through our windows. It has entered our houses to perish the little children from the outdoors, the youths from the streets.’ ”
22 Yahweh says this, 'Let the sage not boast of wisdom, nor the valiant of valour, nor the wealthy ofriches!	22 “Speak: Thus says the Lord: And the corpses of men will fall like manure over the face of the countryside, and like hay behind the back of the reaper, and there will be no one to gather it.”
23 But let anyone who wants to boast, boast of this: of understanding and knowing me. For I am Yahweh,who acts with faithful love, justice, and uprightness on earth; yes, these are what please me,' Yahweh declares.	23 Thus says the Lord: “The wise man should not glory in his wisdom, and the strong man should not glory in his strength, and the rich man should not glory in his riches.
24 'Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shal punish al who are circumcised only in theflesh:	24 But he who glories should glory in this: to know me and to know me well. For I am the Lord, who accomplishes mercy and judgment and justice upon the earth. For these things are pleasing to me, says the Lord.
25 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the Ammonites, Moab, and all the men with shaven temples who live in thedesert. For al those nations, and the whole House of Israel too, are uncircumcised at heart.'	25 Behold, the days are approaching, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all who are uncircumcised:
	26 upon Egypt, and upon Judah, and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all who have shaved off their hair, living in the desert. For all the nations are uncircumcised in body, but all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”