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唯愿我的头是水泉，
眼是泪泉，
好为我被杀的同胞昼夜哭泣；
2唯愿我在旷野有栖身之处，
以便远离我的同胞，
因为他们是一群不忠不贞之徒。
3耶和华说：
“他们鼓舌如簧，射出谎言，
遍地充满诡诈，毫无诚实；
他们行恶不断，
不认我是上帝。
4你们要提防邻居，
不要信赖弟兄，
因为弟兄都诡计多端，
邻居个个满口是非。
5他们彼此欺骗，不说真话；
他们说谎成性，
不知疲倦地肆意犯罪；
6他们充满暴力和诡诈，
不肯认识我。
这是耶和华说的。”
7因此，万军之耶和华说：
“看啊，我要熬炼、试验我这些罪恶的子民，
除此之外，我还有什么选择？
8他们舌如毒箭，说话诡诈，
对邻居口蜜腹剑。
9难道我不该惩罚他们吗？
难道我不该报应这样的民族吗？
这是耶和华说的。”
10我要为众山痛哭哀号，
为旷野的草场唱哀歌，
因为那里一片荒凉，杳无人迹，
听不见牲畜的叫声，
飞鸟和走兽也逃去无踪。
11耶和华说：“我要使耶路撒冷沦为废墟，
成为豺狼出没之地；
我要使犹大的城邑荒凉，
不见人烟。”
12谁有智慧明白这事呢？谁曾受过耶和华的指教可以讲解这事呢？为什么这片土地被毁，变得荒凉、杳无人迹？ 13耶和华说：“这是因为他们弃绝我赐给他们的律法，不听从我的话，不遵守我的律法， 14执迷不悟，随从他们祖先的教导去供奉巴力。” 15因此，以色列的上帝——万军之耶和华说：“看啊，我要使这百姓吃苦艾，喝毒水； 16我要把他们分散到他们及其祖先都不认识的列国；我要使敌人挥刀追杀他们，直到灭绝他们。”
17万军之耶和华说：
“你们听好了，把陪哭的妇人请来，
把最会哭的妇人带来，
18叫她们速来为我的子民哀哭，
哭得他们泪盈满眶，
哭得他们泪如泉涌。
19因为从锡安传出哀鸣，
‘我们竟然灭亡了！
我们受了奇耻大辱！
我们的家园被毁，
我们只好背井离乡。’”
20妇人啊，你们要听耶和华的话，
接受祂口中的教诲；
你们要教导女儿哀哭，
教导邻居唱挽歌。
21因为死亡从窗户爬进我们的城堡，
吞灭街上的孩童和广场上的青年。
22要宣告耶和华的话：“人们必尸横遍野，
像散布在田野上的粪便，
又像收割者身后没有收集的禾捆。”
23耶和华说：“智者不要夸耀自己的智慧，勇士不要夸耀自己的力量，富人不要夸耀自己的财富。 24若有人夸耀，就让他夸耀自己认识我是耶和华，知道我喜欢在地上凭慈爱、公平和正义行事。这是耶和华说的。” 25耶和华说：“看啊，时候将到，我要惩罚所有只在身体上受过割礼的人， 26就是埃及人、犹大人、以东人、亚扪人、摩押人和所有住在旷野、剃了鬓发的人，因为这些人都没有受过真正的割礼，以色列全家也没有受过内心的割礼。”
