In Hebrew texts 9:1 is numbered 8:23, and 9:2-26 is numbered 9:1-25. 1Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
2Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
3“They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
4“Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
For every one of them is a deceiver,9:4 Or a deceiving Jacob
and every friend a slanderer.
5Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
6You9:6 That is, Jeremiah (the Hebrew is singular) live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
7Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
8Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.
9Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”
10I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
and the animals are gone.
11“I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
13The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food and drink poisoned water. 16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have made an end of them.”
17This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’ ”
20Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
22Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“ ‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’ ”
23This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
25“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
1唯願我的頭是水泉，
眼是淚泉，
好為我被殺的同胞晝夜哭泣；
2唯願我在曠野有棲身之處，
以便遠離我的同胞，
因為他們是一群不忠不貞之徒。
3耶和華說：
「他們鼓舌如簧，射出謊言，
遍地充滿詭詐，毫無誠實；
他們行惡不斷，
不認我是上帝。
4你們要提防鄰居，
不要信賴弟兄，
因為弟兄都詭計多端，
鄰居個個滿口是非。
5他們彼此欺騙，不說真話；
他們說謊成性，
不知疲倦地肆意犯罪；
6他們充滿暴力和詭詐，
不肯認識我。
這是耶和華說的。」
7因此，萬軍之耶和華說：
「看啊，我要熬煉、試驗我這些罪惡的子民，
除此之外，我還有什麼選擇？
8他們舌如毒箭，說話詭詐，
對鄰居口蜜腹劍。
9難道我不該懲罰他們嗎？
難道我不該報應這樣的民族嗎？
這是耶和華說的。」
10我要為眾山痛哭哀號，
為曠野的草場唱哀歌，
因為那裡一片荒涼，杳無人跡，
聽不見牲畜的叫聲，
飛鳥和走獸也逃去無蹤。
11耶和華說：「我要使耶路撒冷淪為廢墟，
成為豺狼出沒之地；
我要使猶大的城邑荒涼，
不見人煙。」
12誰有智慧明白這事呢？誰曾受過耶和華的指教可以講解這事呢？為什麼這片土地被毀，變得荒涼、杳無人跡？ 13耶和華說：「這是因為他們棄絕我賜給他們的律法，不聽從我的話，不遵守我的律法， 14執迷不悟，隨從他們祖先的教導去供奉巴力。」 15因此，以色列的上帝——萬軍之耶和華說：「看啊，我要使這百姓吃苦艾，喝毒水； 16我要把他們分散到他們及其祖先都不認識的列國；我要使敵人揮刀追殺他們，直到滅絕他們。」
17萬軍之耶和華說：
「你們聽好了，把陪哭的婦人請來，
把最會哭的婦人帶來，
18叫她們速來為我的子民哀哭，
哭得他們淚盈滿眶，
哭得他們淚如泉湧。
19因為從錫安傳出哀鳴，
『我們竟然滅亡了！
我們受了奇恥大辱！
我們的家園被毀，
我們只好背井離鄉。』」
20婦人啊，你們要聽耶和華的話，
接受祂口中的教誨；
你們要教導女兒哀哭，
教導鄰居唱輓歌。
21因為死亡從窗戶爬進我們的城堡，
吞滅街上的孩童和廣場上的青年。
22要宣告耶和華的話：「人們必屍橫遍野，
像散佈在田野上的糞便，
又像收割者身後沒有收集的禾捆。」
23耶和華說：「智者不要誇耀自己的智慧，勇士不要誇耀自己的力量，富人不要誇耀自己的財富。 24若有人誇耀，就讓他誇耀自己認識我是耶和華，知道我喜歡在地上憑慈愛、公平和正義行事。這是耶和華說的。」 25耶和華說：「看啊，時候將到，我要懲罰所有只在身體上受過割禮的人， 26就是埃及人、猶大人、以東人、亞捫人、摩押人和所有住在曠野、剃了鬢髮的人，因為這些人都沒有受過真正的割禮，以色列全家也沒有受過內心的割禮。」
